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THE  LIFE  OF 
SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 


(INVENTOR    OF    PHONOGRAPHY) 


BY 

ALFRED    BAKER 


NEW    YORK 

ISAAC    PITMAN    &   SONS,    Publishers 

31    Union    Square  (West) 

1908 


TO 
THE  RIGHT  HON.  THE  EARL  OF  ROSEBERY 

K.G.,  K.T., 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE 

FIRST   INTERNATIONAL    SHORTHAND    CONGRESS 

HELD   IN    LONDON    IN    1887 

THIS   VOLUME 

IS   INSCRIBED   WITH    HIS   LORDSHIP'S 

KIND    PERMISSION 


PREFACE 

In  the  illustrious  roll  of  inventors  who  have  in  our 
own  age  conferred  great  and  varied  benefits  on 
their  country,  the  name  of  Sir  Isaac  Pitman 
occupies  a  unique  position,  as  the  originator  of 
a  method  of  brief  writing  as  widely  used  as  the 
language  in  which  it  is  written.  His  bold  experi- 
ment of  giving  to  the  world  a  system  of  shorthand 
having  an  absolutely  phonetic  basis  was  an 
immediate  success,  and  for  seventy  years  it  has 
proved  of  inestimable  service  for  every  purpose 
for  which  a  written  record  is  desired,  and  has 
"become  the  standard  method  of  English  short- 
hand. He  did  not  live  to  see  success  attend  his 
proposals  for  a  drastic  reform  of  English  spelling 
on  a  strictly  phonetic  basis.  But  it  is  only  just 
to  his  memory  to  point  out  that,  to  his  work  as 
a  pioneer,  is  to  a  large  extent  due  the  revived 
interest  in  simplified  spelling  manifested  in  our 
own  time. 

The  life  story  of  Sir  Isaac  Pitman  has  been 
related  in  many  forms,  but  not  hitherto  with  the 
completeness  which  has  been  attempted  in  the 
present  volume.  The  author's  thanks  are  due 
to  Sir  Isaac's  family  for  placing  at  his  disposal 
all  the  personal  records  in  their  possession.  Mr. 
Henry  Pitman,  younger  brother  of  the  Inventor 
of  Phonography,  gave  valuable  information 
on    many    points.      From    the    writings   of    Mr? 

r 


VI  PREFACE 

Benn  Pitman  assistance  was  derived  in  relation 
to  his  early  reminiscences  of  his  brother.  The 
"  Biography  of  Isaac  Pitman,"  written  by  Mr. 
T.  A.  Reed  in  1890,  comprises  a  large  amount  of 
information  which  would  not  have  been  recorded 
at  all  but  for  his  industrious  pen,  and  this  work 
has  of  necessity  been  freely  drawn  on. 

Later  information  on  the  birthplace  of  Isaac 
Pitman  points  to  the  fact  that  he  was  born  before 
his  family  moved  to  Timbrell  street,  Trowbridge 
(page  6).  While  the  "  Life  M  was  appearing  in 
serial  form  some  further  facts  came  to  the 
author's  knowledge  relative  to  the  presentation  to 
Mr.  G.  J.  Holyoake  (page  29).  There  is  no  doubt 
that  Isaac  Pitman  visited  Birmingham  in  the  year 
of  the  presentation,  and  that  a  certain  "  Mr. 
Pitman  "  made  the  gift  to  young  Holyoake.  But 
whether  he  was  really  the  Inventor  of  Phonography 
(as  Mr.  Holyoake  believed  and  wrote)  appears  to 
be  doubtful. 

Thanks  are  tendered  to  the  proprietors  of 
Punch  for  permission  to  reproduce  the  cartoon 
on  page  219  ;  to  Mr.  George  Lansdown,  of  the 
Wiltshire  Times,  Trowbridge,  for  permission  to 
reproduce  a  rare  drawing  of  the  school  attended 
by  Sir  Isaac  Pitman  ;  to  Mr.  F.  H.  Fisher  (editor 
of  the  Literary  World)  for  permission  to  quote  the 
"  In  Memoriam "  sonnet ;  and  to  Mr.  A.  T. 
Donald,  Aberdeen,  for  assistance  with  the 
bibliography.  A    R 

Dec,    1908, 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I.  EARLY   DAYS.      1813-1831  ....  1 

II.  STARTING   IN   LIFE  AT  BARTON-ON-HUMBER. 

1832-5 16 

III.  EVENTFUL    YEARS     AT    WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE. 

1836-7 24 

IV.  INVENTION    OF    "  STENOGRAPHIC    SOUND-HAND." 

1837-9 30 

V.      SETTLEMENT     IN     BATH     AND     PUBLICATION     OF 

"  PHONOGRAPHY."      1839-40  .  .  .44 

VI.      BEGINNING    OF     THE     PROPAGANDA    AND     "  THE 

PHONOGRAPHIC  JOURNAL."      1840-2         .  .         53 

VII."     THE  WRITING  AND  SPELLING  REFORM — THE  FIRST 

INSTITUTE.      1843 73 

VIII.  PHONOTYPY  INTRODUCED — PHONOGRAPHY  AND 
THE  SPELLING  REFORM  ATTACKED  AND 
DEFENDED.      1844-5 85 

IX.      A   DEPARTURE    IN    PRINTING   AND    PUBLISHING — 
MR.   A.   J.   ELLIS  AND  THE   "  1847  ALPHABET." 

1845-S 95 

X.      "  THE  PHONETIC  NEWS  "  AND  WHAT  FOLLOWED. 

1849-50 104 

XI.      THE    INTERNATIONAL    EXHIBITION    AND    EXETER 
HALL — THE    SECOND    AND    THIRD    INSTITUTES. 

1851-6 .111 

XII.      THE  TENTH  AND  ELEVENTH  EDITIONS  OF  PHONO- 
GRAPHY.    1857-S2 126 

XIII.      "  THE      READING,      WRITING,      AND      RECKONING 

reform."  1857-62 136 

xiv.  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  phonography — 

PRESENTATION  TO  THE  INVENTOR.      1862  .       144 

XV.      A  CHARACTER  SKETCH — ADDRESS  TO  THE  BRITISH 

ASSOCIATION  ON  "  BRIEF  WRITING."      1862-4  ,       155 

vii 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

XVI.  PHONOGRAPHIC  AUTHORSHIP — TESTIMONY  IN  THE 
JUSTICIARY  COURT  AT  EDINBURGH — ADDRESS 
AT  MANCHESTER.       1865-72   .... 

XVII.      SHORTHAND    PRINTING    FROM    MOVABLE    TYPE — 
THE  FOURTH  INSTITUTE.      1873-5. 

XVIII.      MAX-MULLER     AND     THE     SPELLING     REFORM — A 
PROPOSED  ROYAL  COMMISSION.      1876-9 

XIX.  MANY  SCHEMES  OF  SPELLING  REFORM  AND 
11  THREE  RULES  " — PUBLIC  APPEARANCES — 
ACTION   IN   THE   HIGH   COURT — AMEN   CORNER. 

1880-6 

XX.      THE      PHONOGRAPHIC      JUBILEE — THE      FIFTH 

INSTITUTE.      1887-9 

XXI.  A  NEW  EPOCH  IN  SHORTHAND  TEACHING — THE 
NATIONAL  PHONOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY — AN  EDI- 
TORIAL JUBILEE.       1890-3     .... 

XXII.      KNIGHTHOOD   CONFERRED   ON   THE   "  FATHER  OF 
PHONOGRAPHY." — RETIREMENT     FROM     THE 
PHONETIC   INSTITUTE.       1894 

XXIII.  INTERESTS,  ACCOMPLISHMENTS,  AND  FADS — SOME 

PERSONAL  DATA  .... 

XXIV.  LAST  YEARS.      1895-7       .... 
XXV.      PUBLIC  TRIBUTES    ..... 


APPENDIX      I. 

APPENDIX  II. 
APPENDIX  III. 
INDEX 


A   REPRINT   OF        STENOGRAPHIC    SOUND 

HAND  " 

THE   EVOLUTION   OF  PHONOGRAPHY 
BIBLIOGRAPHY      .... 


PAGE 

166 
184 
202 


222 
245 

279 

292 

300 
318 
327 

333 
349 
355 
381 


PLATES 


SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN.      MEMORIAL  PORTRAIT  BY  A.   S.  COPE, 
A.R.A.,  IN  THE  NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY.  LONDON 

Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

SAMUEL  PITMAN,   FATHER  OF  THE   INVENTOR  OF  PHONO- 
GRAPHY            4 

SCHOOL  ATTENDED  BY  ISAAC  PITMAN  AT  TROWBRIDGE       .  7 

ST.    JAMES'S   CHURCH,   TROWBRIDGE        .            .            .            .  & 
"  COMPREHENSIVE  BIBLE  "  PRESENTED  TO  ISAAC  PITMAN 

BY  MR.  SAMUEL  BAGSTER  .  .  .  .  .23 

KINGSTON  HOUSE  (OR  THE  HALL),  BRADFORD-ON-AVON    .  25 

ISAAC  PITMAN'S  PRIVATE  SCHOOL  AT  WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE  30 

ISAAC  PITMAN'S  HOUSE  AT  WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE   ("  THE 

BIRTHPLACE  OF  PHONOGRAPHY  ")      .  .  .  .33 

"STENOGRAPHIC  SOUND-HAND"   PLATE    1       .  .  .         34 

"  STENOGRAPHIC   SOUND-HAND  "   PLATE   2      .  .  .35 

TITLE    AND    COVER    OF    "  STENOGRAPHIC    SOUND-HAND." 

PUBLISHED   IN    1837 40 

FACSIMILE     OF     ISAAC     PITMAN 's     LETTER     TO     SAMUEL 

BAGSTER,   14TH  NOVEMBER,   1837      .  .  .  .42 

NELSON  PLACE,  BATH  (FROM  A  DRAWING  ABOUT  1840)       .         44 

THE   FIRST  PHONETIC   INSTITUTE,    NO.    5   NELSON   PLACE, 

BATH  .........         48 

PHONOGRAPHY.      THE   PENNY  PLATE,    1840     ...         52 

"THE  PHONOGRAPHIC   JOURNAL,"   JANUARY,    1842  .         66 

FACSIMILE  OF  FIRST  PAGE  PRINTED  IN  PHONETIC  SPELLING 

(1844) 86 

ISAAC  PITMAN  (AGE  32).      PAINTED  BY  J.  B.  KEENE .  .         89 

REDUCED  FACSIMILE  OF  THE  TOP  PORTION  OF  THE  FIRST 

PAGE  OF  "  THE  PHONETIC  NEWS  "  (1849)   .  .  .104- 

ix 


X  PLATES  facing 

PAGE 
THE  SECOND  PHONETIC  INSTITUTE,  UPPER  BRISTOL  ROAD, 

BATH Ill 

phonetic  society  card  of  membership.     1857  .         .128 

isaac  pitman  (age  46) 131 

cartoon  published  in  the  "  phonographic  luminary  " 
in  1862 134 

facsimile  of  isaac  pitman's  lithographed  shorthand 
from  the  1870  edition  of  macaulay's  biographies    170 

isaac  pitman  (age  55) 178 

certificate  issued  to  members  of  the  phonetic 
society  from  about  1870  to  1879.         .         .         .182 

the  fourth  phonetic  institute,  kingston  buildings, 
abbey  churchyard,  bath  .....     196 

facsimile  of  isaac  pitman's  lithographed  letter  to 

members  of  the  phonetic  society  (1873)     .         .     200 
hazelwood,  warminster  road,  bath        .         .         .     220 

facsimile  of  shorthand  letter  on  the  jubilee 
celebration  from  isaac  pitman  to  mr.  reed       .     248 

isaac  pitman  from  a  marble  bust  by  thomas  brock, 

R.A.    (1887)   ........       256 

THE  AMERICAN  GOLD  MEDAL  TO  COMMEMORATE  THE 
JUBILEE  OF  PHONOGRAPHY,  PRESENTED  TO  ISAAC 
PITMAN  ........       268 

THE  FIFTH  PHONETIC  INSTITUTE,   LOWER  BRISTOL 
BATH   .  .  .  .  . 

ISAAC   PITMAN    AND    SONS     .... 
SPECIMEN    OF    PHONOGRAPHY    PRODUCED    BY    THE 

GRAPHIC   ETCHING   PROCESS     . 
ADDRESS  OF  SHORTHAND  WRITERS  OF  AUSTRALIA 
NO.    17    ROYAL   CRESCENT,    BATH 


•      • 

ROAD, 

.     . 

276 

. 

278 

TYPO- 

. 

287 

.     . 

319 

.     . 

324 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 
FACSIMILE  OF  SAMUEL  PITMAN'S  HOROSCOPE  OF  HIS  SON 

ISAAC 3 

DESIGN   ON  THE  COVER  OF  THE  "  POCKET  EDITION  "    OF 

PHONOGRAPHY  (1842)   .     .     .     .     .     .   «71 

THE  THIRD  PHONETIC  INSTITUTE,  PARSONAGE  LANE,  BATH      122 

A  CORNER  IN  THE  THIRD  PHONETIC  INSTITUTE  .  .123 

FACSIMILE  OF  GENESIS  I,  1-5,  PRINTED  IN  MIKMAK.  .       142: 

SPECIMEN  OF  PITMAN'S  SHORTHAND   (REPORTING  STYLE) 

PRINTED  FROM  METAL  TYPE  CHARACTERS .  .  .       186 

"  FUN    IN    SCIENCE."      SHORTHAND    DRAWING    BY    LORD 

BURY 274 

MEMORIAL  TABLET  PLACED   BY  THE   BATH   CORPORATION 

ON   NO.    17   ROYAL   CRESCENT.    BATH  .  .  .      329" 


XI 


Life   of  Sir   Isaac    Pitman 


EARLY   DAYS 

1813-1831 

Sir  Isaac  Pitman,  the  inventor  of  the  most 
widely  used  system  of  English  Shorthand, 
and  a  lifelong  advocate  of  Spelling  Reform,  was 
born  on  Monday,  the  4th  January,  1813.  His 
birthplace  was  Trowbridge,  in  Wiltshire,  but 
his  parents  were  natives  of  Taunton,  in  the  neigh- 
bouring county  of  Somerset,  and  his  family  name 
is  one  which  has  been  borne  with  distinction  by 
several  West  Country  men.  The  father  of  the 
future  shorthand  author  was  Samuel  Pitman ; 
his  mother's  maiden  name  was  Maria  Davis. 
They  migrated  from  Taunton  soon  after  their 
marriage  in  1808,  and  made  their  home  at  Trow- 
bridge. This  town  has  been  engaged  for  many 
centuries  in  cloth  manufacture,  and  as  Samuel 
Pitman  was  by  trade  a  hand-loom  weaver,  the 
reason  of  his  settlement  there  is  sufficiently 
obvious.  For  the  next  twenty  years  he  acted  as 
overseer  of  the  cloth  factory  of  Mr.  James  Edgell. 
He  was  an  excellent  business  man,  and  had  the 
satisfaction  of  managing  a  very  prosperous  under- 
taking.    There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  possessed 

i 

x— (2284) 


2  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

more  than  average  ability,  and  the  recollections 
of  his  children  and  friends  reveal  an  individuality 
as  well  worthy  of  biographical  notice  as  an  example 
of  a  typical  Englishman  of  the  middle  class,  as 
many  on  whom  fortune  showered  more  favours, 
or  circumstances  brought  into  greater  prominence. 
Much  that  is  distinctive  in  the  character  of  Isaac 
Pitman  he  owed  to  heredity,  and  some  account, 
therefore,  of  the  influence  which  his  father  exer- 
cised may  appropriately  precede  the  story  of  his 
son's  life.  It  should  be  added  that  the  influence 
of  Isaac  Pitman's  mother  was,  in  some  respects, 
equally  important.  To  her  may  be  traced  the 
deep  affection  which  united  the  family  of  eleven 
children  to  their  parents  and  to  each  other.  Of 
this  affection  the  family  correspondence,  which  has 
been  preserved,  furnishes  abundant  testimony. 

Samuel  Pitman  had  so  little  regular  school 
instruction  that  he  thought  it  hardly  worthy  of 
mention,  but  by  self-education  he  attained  to 
considerable  ability  in  some  branches  of  know- 
ledge. He  made  a  thorough  study  of  astronomy, 
and  acquired  the  skill  necessary  to  calcu- 
late eclipses  and  other  celestial  phenomena. 
The  imaginary  science  of  astrology  was  largely 
cultivated  in  his  time,  and  he  was  a  diligent  student 
of  Ebenezer  Sibly's  erudite  quarto  volume,  "  A 
New  and  Complete  Illustration  of  the  Celestial 
Science  of  Astrology/ '  As  each  of  his  children 
was  born  he  cast  the  infant's  horoscope,  which 
was  duly  inscribed  in    the    family    Bible.      An 


HOROSCOPE  3 

additional  copy  of  the  horoscopes  of  both  parents 
and  children  was  also  made  by  him,  and  has  been 
preserved  in  the  family.  In  the  case  of  his  son 
Isaac,  the  horoscope  did  not  indicate  in  any  way 


FACSIMILE   OF    SAMUEL   PITMAN'S    HOROSCOPE   OF    HIS 

SON    ISAAC 

his  future  greatness  as  a  shorthand  inventor, 
and  possibly  this  was  one  of  the  reasons  which 
led  Pitman  pere  in  later  years  to  abandon  his 
faith  in  the  "  celestial  science/ '  At  a  time  when 
books  were  scarce  and  hard  to  obtain  he  was  a 


4  SIR  ISAAC   PITMAN 

diligent  reader,  and  when  he  returned  to  his  home 
after  the  discharge  of  the  many  active  duties  which 
formed  his  day's  work,  a  book  was  invariably 
the  companion  of  his  leisure  hours.  He  was 
consequently  well  informed,  and  his  studies, 
coupled  with  his  observation  of  life,  made  him 
tolerant  in  matters  of  religion.  A  man  of  sincere 
conviction  in  regard  to  the  truths  of  Christianity, 
he  practised  his  faith  with  conspicuous  impartiality 
and  broad-mindedness. 

Each  member  of  his  family  of  seven  sons  and 
four  daughters  was  baptised  in  infancy  at  the 
parish    church    of    St.    James,    Trowbridge,    the 
christening  of  his  son  Isaac  taking  place  on  the 
11th  April  following  his  birth.     Soon  after  this 
event,  the  Rev.  George  Crabbe,  the  poet,  received 
his  last   clerical  preferment,   and  was  inducted 
Rector  of  Trowbridge   on  the  3rd   June,    1814. 
Under  the  parson  poet,  Samuel  Pitman  became 
superintendent    of   the    Church   Sunday    School, 
which  Isaac  and  his  brothers  attended  either  as 
scholars  or  teachers.     Their  mother,  who  was  a 
sincerely  religious  woman,   and  of  a  singularly 
equable  temperament  and  kindly  disposition,  was 
a  Baptist,  and  the  family  attended  with  her  at 
Zion  Chapel,  which  was  not  in  its  earlier  days  . 
equipped  with  a  Sunday  School.     Through  the 
exertions  of  Samuel  Pitman  and  others  this  defect 
was  made  good,  and  he  became  superintendent 
of  this  school,  his  eldest  son  Jacob  and  his  next 
son  Isaac  acting  as  teachers  there.     On  alternate 


SAMUEL    PITMAN 

{Father  of  the  Inventor  of  Phonography) j 


EDUCATIONAL   MOVEMENTS  5 

Sundays  father  and  sons  continued  to  discharge 
similar  duties  at  the  older  school  established  in 
association  with  the  parish  church. 

The  interest  of  Samuel  Pitman  in  educational 
advancement  unquestionably  had  a  great  influ- 
ence on  the  future  career  of  his  son  Isaac.  At 
this  period,  more  than  half-a-century  before  the 
Education  Act  of  1870,  almost  the  only  provision 
for  popular  education  in  England  was  in  the  form 
of  the  parochial  charity  school.  But  three  years 
before  Samuel  Pitman  settled  at  Trowbridge, 
Joseph  Lancaster's  efforts  had  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  the  great  society,  which  in  a  few 
years  established  throughout  the  land  institutions 
designed  for  the  children  of  the  masses,  and  popu- 
larly known  as  British  Schools.  In  Trowbridge 
the  movement  found  an  earnest  pioneer  in  Samuel 
Pitman,  through  whose  instrumentality  subscrip- 
tions were  obtained  and  a  large  school-house 
built,  which,  if  not  the  first,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
in  the  West  of  England.  A  few  years  later  the 
infant  school  movement  arose,  and  he  promoted 
a  scheme  which  brought  the  Pestalozzian  system 
within  the  reach  of  the  children  of  his  fellow 
townsmen. 

In  another  branch  of  social  reform  Samuel 
Pitman  was  a  pioneer,  namely,  that  of  temperance 
— a  good  many  years  before  the  time  when  the 
men  of  Preston  enriched  the  English  language 
with  the  word  "  teetotal/'  Nearly  half-a-century 
before  free  libraries  were  heard  of  in  England, 


6  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

Samuel  Pitman — again  well  in  advance  of  his  age 
— had  established  a  library  for  the  work-people 
at  his  cloth  factory,  together  with  a  reading-room. 
Interested  as  he  was  in  these  movements  for  the 
general  welfare,  he  was  in  his  home  an  excellent 
father,  and  not  only  set  a  good  example  there  to 
his  sons  and  daughters,  but  while  firm  and  just 
in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  head  of  the 
family,  he  made  use  of  all  means  which  lay  at  hand 
for  their  moral  and  intellectual  improvement. 

It  was  at  the  family  residence  in  Timbrell 
Street,  Trowbridge,  that  Isaac  Pitman  was  born, 
but  his  birthplace  was  long  since  pulled  down  in 
order  to  make  room  for  business  premises,  and 
even  the  site  is  now  uncertain.  The  testimony 
of  his  brothers  shows  that  in  his  early  youth  he 
began  to  exhibit  those  mental  and  moral  charac- 
teristics which  were  distinctive  of  his  later  life. 
His  younger  brother,  Benn,  says,  "  Isaac  in  his 
youth  was  of  a  diligent  and  studious  habit.  He 
was  of  a  sensitive  nature,  inclined  to  be  thoughtful, 
regarding  life  and  its  duties  as  matters  of  grave 
concern/ '  His  elder  brother,  Jacob,  observes, 
"  Isaac  never  had  any  of  that  rollicking  nonsense 
about  him  peculiar  to  most  of  us  boys,  nor  do  I 
remember  his  ever  stopping  on  his  way  from 
school  to  play,  but  home  directly  he  went,  either 
to  his  books  or  to  his  work."  In  the  Pitman 
family  the  greatest  regularity  and  punctuality 
were  observed  in  regard  to  the  daily  round  of 
duties  ;   the  children  were  not  permitted  to  loiter 


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SCHOOL  DAYS  7 

in  the  streets,  and  any  infringement  of  regulations 
was  followed  by  chastisement,  administered  by 
Pitman  pere  with  a  strap.  Recreative  exercise 
was  not,  however,  neglected,  and  took  the  form 
of  country  walks,  and  bathing  and  swimming  ; 
in  the  last  named  pursuit  his  brother  Benn  bears 
record  that  Isaac  showed  courage  and  even 
daring. 

The  school  days  of  Isaac  Pitman  began  and 
ended  at  a  comparatively  early  age.  He  received, 
he  tells  us,  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education 
in  a  day  school  of  his  native  town  :  "  From  a  list 
of  the  names  of  his  pupils,  kept  by  the  master, 
Mr.  Nightingale,  it  appears  that  Isaac  Pitman 
left  school  on  8th  October,  1825,  in  the  thirteenth 
year  of  his  age.  The  school  contained  from 
eighty  to  100  boys,  and  the  size  of  the  schoolroom 
was  about  25  ft.  by  15  ft.,  and  8  ft.  or  9  ft.  high. 
A  raised  desk  was  placed  against  the  wall  on  the 
window  side  of  the  building,  high  enough  to  allow 
of  half-moon  standing  classes  underneath.  In 
the  small  space  afforded  by  this  high  desk,  and  on 
the  floor  of  the  room  about  100  boys  were  crowded 
together.  The  air  was  consequently  so  vitiated 
that  young  Pitman  was  frequently  obliged  to 
leave  the  schoolroom  and  go  into  the  fresh  air  to 
recover  from  a  fainting  fit.  His  school  days  were 
thus  early  closed  in  consequence  of  these  faintings. 
No  one  suspected  that  the  schoolroom  was  in 
fault — so  little  were  sanitary  conditions  of  life 
then  considered." 


8  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

In  a  note  to  the  above  account  Isaac  Pitman 
records  that  the  "'  fresh  air  "  into  which  he  was 
taken  was  "  the  churchyard,  lying  between  the 
school  and  the  church/ '  This  was,  in  fact,  used 
as  a  playground  by  the  scholars,  and  Benn  Pitman 
has  recollections  of  the  games  which  were  played 
by  them  among  the  monuments  of  the  departed, 
"  over  which  the  boys  chased  each  other  in  wildest 
glee."  On  Sundays  the  schoolroom  was  used  as 
the  Church  Sunday  School,  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made. 

The  early  termination  of  his  school  days  was 
sincerely  regretted  by  Isaac  Pitman.  He  was  at 
once  initiated  as  a  clerk  in  the  counting-house  of 
Mr.  EdgelFs  cloth  manufactory,  and  after  a  short 
experience  there  earnestly  begged  his  father  to 
allow  him  to  return  to  school  and  resume  his 
lessons,  but  the  latter  did  not  see  his  way  to  accede 
to  his  son's  request.  He  advised  Isaac  to  con- 
tinue his  studies  at  home,  and  indeed  provided 
the  means  for  doing  so.  Although  the  office  hours 
were  from  six  in  the  morning  to  six  at  night,  the 
young  clerk  found  time  for  systematic  study.  He 
and  his  brother  Jacob  rose  at  four  each  morning, 
and  devoted  nearly  two  hours  to  their  books, 
till  they  left  home  to  begin  the  duties  of  the  day, 
and  in  the  evening  they  gave  one  or  two  hours 
to  study.  It  occasionally  happened  that  there 
was  no  work  to  be  done  in  the  early  morning  at  the 
factory  office,  and  Isaac  used  such  opportunities 
for  study  in  the  open  air. 


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-«5 


BOOKS  AND   MUSIC  9 

Among  the  authors  who  had  a  great  influence 
in  the  formation  of  his  habits  and  character  was 
Isaac  Watts,  whose  work  on  "  The  Improvement 
of  the  Mind  "  was  a  favourite  volume  of  his  early 
days.  The  well-known  lines  of  this  writer  were 
especially  applicable  to  Isaac  Pitman  : 

In  books,  or  works,  or  healthful  play, 

Let  my  first  years  be  past, 
That  I  may  give  for  every  day 

Some  good  account  at  last. 

There  were  two  periods  in  the  family  history 
when  Samuel  Pitman  arranged  an  evening  school 
for  his  children,  securing  as  instructor  Miss  New, 
a  lady  of  good  general  culture  and  musical  ability, 
who  was  daughter  of  the  only  bookseller  in  Trow- 
bridge. Instruction  was  imparted  in  English 
subjects  and  in  music.  Music  lessons  were  given 
for  a  considerable  time  to  the  young  Pitmans 
on  an  antiquated  triangular  harpsichord.  When 
some  proficiency  had  been  acquired  in  fingering, 
their  father  bought  a  Broadwood  pianoforte  of 
five-and-a-half  octaves,  to  the  keen  delight  of 
his  son  Isaac,  who  had  from  his  early  years  a 
great  fondness  for  music ;  books  and  music,  as  he 
once  observed,  were  his  "  two  loves."  At  a 
later  period  a  pair  of  globes  was  obtained,  and 
Isaac  profited  by  this  addition  to  the  means  of 
instruction  to  such  an  extent  that  in  subsequent 
years  he  was  very  successful  in  his  school  work 
in  demonstrations  by  the  "  use  of  the  globes." 


10  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

Some  of  the  particulars  of  Isaac  Pitman's  work 
of  self-education  recorded  above  are  drawn  from 
Mr.  Thomas  Allen  Reed's  "  Biography. "  As  this 
is  the  only  account  of  this  important  period,  we 
here  make  further  extracts  (revised  by  the  subject 
of  this  narrative),  which  exhibit  the  young  student 
unconsciously  laying  the  foundations  of  his  life 
work.  "  One  of  the  books,"  Mr.  Reed  says, 
"  which  he  made  his  companion  in  morning  walks 
into  the  country,  was  '  Lennie's  Grammar/  The 
conjugations  of  verbs,  lists  of  irregular  verbs, 
adverbs,  prepositions,  and  conjunctions,  and  the 
thirty-six  rules  of  syntax,  he  committed  to  memory, 
so  that  he  could  repeat  them  seriatim.  The  study 
of  this  book  gave  him  a  transparent  English  style. 
There  was  also  a  local  library  to  which  his  father 
subscribed,  one  of  the  earliest  lending  libraries 
established  in  the  country,  and  Isaac  was  one  of 
its  most  diligent  readers."  "  I  went  regularly 
to  the  library  for  fresh  supplies  of  books,"  he 
observed  in  the  course  of  a  speech  delivered  at 
Manchester  in  1868,  ((  and  thus  read  most  of  the 
English  classics.  I  think  I  was  quite  as  familiar 
with  Addison,  and  Sir  Roger,  and  Will  Honey- 
comb, and  all  the  club,  as  I  was  with  my  own 
brothers  and  sisters  ....  and  when  reading 
the  '  Spectator  '  at  that  early  age  I  wished  that 
I  might  be  able  to  do  something  in  letters."  The 
perusal  of  the  "  Iliad  "  at  this  time  gave  him  great 
delight.  In  addition  to  the  lending  library,  occa- 
sional parcels  of  books  were  obtained  from  London, 


SELF-EDUCATION  1 1 

Samuel  Pitman  having  the  advantage  of  buying 
them  from  the  publishing  house  of  Tegg,  73 
Cheapside,  at  discount  prices.  Of  this  privilege 
Jacob  Pitman  says  that  his  father  "  availed  him- 
self to  a  large  extent,  purchasing  a  number  of 
books  which  he  had  never  seen  before,  and  this 
gave  a  great  impetus  to  our  studies/ ' 

"  Isaac  was  in  the  habit/'  Mr.  Reed  tells  us, 
"  from  the  age  of  twelve,  of  copying  choice  pieces 
of  poetry  and  portions  of  Scripture  into  a  little 
book  which  he  kept  in  his  pocket,  for  the  purpose 
of  committing  them  to  memory.  Two  of  these 
little  pocket  albums  have  been  preserved.  Their 
contents  are  very  various.  One  contains  extracts 
from  Pope,  Milton,  Cowper,  James  Montgomery, 
the  Psalms,  and  Isaiah,  interspersed  with  the 
Greek  alphabet,  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  arithmet- 
ical tables,  and  other  items  of  useful  information. 
This  book  is  dated  31st  May,  1825.  The  pen- 
manship is  extremely  neat  and  distinct.  A  later 
pocket  companion  contains  a  neatly- written  copy 
of  Valpy's  Greek  Grammar,  as  far  as  the  Syntax, 
which  he  committed  to  memory ;  a  chrono- 
logical table,  etc.  In  his  morning  walks  [in  1832] 
he  committed  to  memory  the  first  fourteen 
chapters  of  Proverbs.  He  would  not  undertake 
a  fresh  chapter  until  he  had  repeated  the  preceding 
one  without  hesitation. 

'  Up  to  the  age  of  sixteen  he  greatly  increased 
his  knowledge  of  books  ;  but  he  rarely  had  the 
opportunity  of  intercourse  with  educated  persons. 


12  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

One  result  of  this  was  that,  while  familiar  enough 
with  written  words  and  their  meaning,  he  was  at 
fault  with  regard  to  their  pronunciation.  A  large 
portion  of  the  language  of  books  he  had  never 
heard  in  conversation,  or  at  school,  and  the  mis- 
leading or  ambiguous  spellings  of  these  words 
often  led  him  to  pronounce  them  (mentally) 
inaccurately.  Happily,  he  was  conscious  of  this 
defect,  and  did  his  best  to  remedy  it.  Of  many 
hundred  words,  known  by  the  eye  only  as  dumb 
symbols,  he  learned  the  accentuation  by  his 
reading  and  passionate  love  of  '  Paradise  Lost.' 
With  characteristic  energy  and  thoroughness,  he 
set  himself  a  task,  which  to  most  persons  would 
be  little  less  than  repulsive,  and  which  probably 
few  have  undertaken.  He  carefully  read  through 
Walker's  Dictionary,  with  the  double  object  of 
extending  his  knowledge  of  words,  and  of  correct- 
ing his  errors  in  orthoepy.  The  words  which  he 
thus  discovered  that  he  had  mentally  mispro- 
nounced were  copied  out  with  their  proper  diacritic 
symbols  of  pronunciation.  They  numbered  about 
two  thousand,  and  their  correct  pronunciation 
had  to  be  fixed  in  the  memory  by  repetition.  The 
chief  difficulty  in  this  task  lay  in  the  fact  that  a 
false  pronunciation  or  accentuation  had  to  be 
unlearned.  This  reading  of  Walker  was  made 
at  about  the  age  of  seventeen.  He  read  through 
the  book  a  second  time,  with  the  same  object. " 
[In  1832-6.] 

Soon  after  the  first  study  of  Walker,  "  With 


A  MOMENTOUS  DECISION  13 

that  instinctive  love  of  knowledge  common  to 
boys,"  Isaac  Pitman  says,  "  I  began  to  study 
shorthand.  I  saw  that  it  would  be  a  great  advan- 
tage to  write  six  times  as  fast  as  I  had  been 
accustomed  to,  and  I  borrowed  a  book,  read  it 
through,  copied  the  alphabet  and  •  arbitrary 
words/  and  have  written  shorthand  ever  since." 
The  story  of  his  mastery  and  use  of  the  steno- 
graphic art  will  be  more  conveniently  narrated 
when  we  come  to  describe  the  invention  of 
Phonography. 

Isaac  Pitman  continued  to  hold  the  position  of 
clerk  in  Mr.  Edgell's  factory  until  his  father,  in  the 
year  1829  (when  the  subject  of  this  biography  was 
about  sixteen  years  old),  began  business  as  a  cloth 
manufacturer  on  his  own  account,  and  installed  his 
son  in  the  counting-house.  The  family  moved  to  a 
house  in  Silver  Street,  Trowbridge,  having  a  cloth 
factory  adjoining  it.  Isaac  fulfilled  the  duties  of 
clerk  in  his  father's  office  until  August,  1831, 
when  he  was  a  little  more  than  eighteen  and  a  half 
years  old.  At  that  time  his  father,  who,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  was  greatly  interested  in  the 
movement  for  providing  popular  education,  decided 
that  Isaac  should  become  a  school  teacher  under 
the  British  School  system.  This  selection  of  a  pro- 
fession for  Isaac  Pitman  was  the  originating 
cause  of  his  life's  work,  for  it  brought  him  in  con- 
tact with  those  whose  influence  on  his  career  was 
nothing  short  of  remarkable.  In  accordance  with 
his  father's  decision,  he  was  sent  to  the  Borough 


14  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

Road  Training  College  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
School  Society.  Here  he  underwent  a  five  months' 
training,  and  at  the  end  of  this  time  left  the  College, 
just  after  he  had  completed  his  nineteenth  birth- 
day, to  take  up  his  first  appointment.  The 
preparation  was  brief  in  point  of  time,  but  the 
young  graduate  was  apt,  and  his  training  invested 
him  for  the  rest  of  his  life  with  all  the  best  attri- 
butes of  the  schoolmaster,  so  that  down  to  his 
latest  years  there  was  about  him  much  that  was 
distinctive  of  the  manner  and  methods  of  the 
preceptor  of  youth.  When  Samuel  Pitman 
applied  personally  to  the  Training  College  for  the 
admission  of  another  son,  the  Head  Master,  Mr. 
Henry  Dunn,  in  granting  his  request,  said,  "  You 
may  send  me  as  many  more  of  your  children  as 
you  can  spare."  Accordingly,  in  later  years, 
five  other  members  of  the  Pitman  family  were 
received  at  the  Training  College,  namely,  Jacob 
and  Joseph  of  the  boys,  and  Rosella,  Jane,  and 
Mary  of  the  girls.  All  of  these  afterwards  received 
appointments  to  schools  in  different  parts  of 
England. 

As  references  to  the  various  members  of  the 
Pitman  family  will  occur  in  subsequent  chapters 
of  this  Life,  the  present  is  a  convenient  opportunity 
for  introducing  them  to  the  reader. 

Samuel  Pitman  (b.  12  Sept.,  1787,  d.  2  Dec, 
1863),  married  on  17  April,  1808,  Maria  Davis 
(b.  1784,  d.  2  July,  1854).  After  the  death  of  his 
first  wife  he  married  in  1857  Eliza  Darton,  relative 


THE   PITMAN   FAMILY  15 

of  a  London  publisher  of  that  name.  The  children 
of  Samuel  and  Maria  Pitman  were  as  under  : 

Melissa  (Mrs.  Prior,  later  Mrs.  Jones),  b.  1809, 

d.  1864. 
Jacob,  b.  1810,  d.  1890. 
Isaac,  b.  1813,  d.  1897. 
Abraham,  b.  1814,  d.  1829. 
Rosella,  b.  1816,  d.  1898. 
Joseph,  b.  1818,  d.  1895. 
Jane  (Mrs.  Hunt),  b.  1820,  d.  1896. 
Benjamin  (Benn),  b.  1822. 
Mary  (Mrs.  Webster),  b.  1824. 
Henry,  b.  1826. 
Frederick,  b.  1828,  d.  1886. 


II 

STARTING   IN   LIFE   AT   BARTON-ON-HUMBER 

1832-1835 

The  year  which  witnessed  the  passing  of  the 
Reform  Bill,  saw  Isaac  Pitman  enter  on  the 
duties  of  his  first  appointment.  Almost  at  the 
end  of  his  career,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  he 
reminded  the  veteran  statesman  of  a  coincidence 
in  their  personal  history  :  "  We  commenced  our 
public  life,"  he  wrote,  "  in  the  same  year,  1832, 
you  as  Member  for  Newark  and  I  as  Master  of  the 
British  School  at  Barton-on-Humber."  Barton 
is  a  small  market  town  in  North  Lincolnshire, 
six  miles  south-west  of  Hull,  and  the  young  school- 
master arrived  there  on  the  20th  January.  Many 
a  man  who  has  been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune 
is  proud  to  be  able  to  boast  that  he  began  life 
with  the  proverbial  half-crown  in  his  pocket.  In 
the  case  of  Isaac  Pitman  the  amount  his  purse 
contained  when  he  alighted  from  the  coach  to 
take  over  his  first  charge  was  no  more  than  three 
half-crowns.  With  praiseworthy  exactitude  he 
kept  in  a  small  pocket-book  a  complete  record  of 
his  income  and  expenditure  from  the  date  when 
he  began  life  at  Barton.  This  account  reveals  the 
above  fact,  and  from  it  we  are  able  to  see  with 
what  scrupulous  promptitude  he  discharged  every 
liability  he  incurred,  and  out  of  his  slender  means 

16 


BARTON   BRITISH   SCHOOL  17 

contributed  to  various  useful  objects.  More  than 
one  entry  bears  eloquent  testimony  to  the  need  of 
postal  reform.  Whenever  a  u  letter  from  home  " 
arrived,  it  cost  its  recipient  the  sum  of  Is.  Id.  ! 

The  position  to  which  Isaac  Pitman  was 
appointed  was  that  of  Master  of  what  was  known 
as  Long's  School,  from  the  fact  that  the  funds 
came  from  an  educational  bequest  by  an  individual 
of  that  name.  As  the  trustees  at  this  time  con- 
ducted the  school  in  association  with  the  Society 
which  sent  the  Master  to  Barton,  it  became  also 
known  as  the  British  School.  The  number  of 
boys  was  about  120.  The  new  Master  began 
his  duties  at  a  salary  of  £70  a  year,  which  was 
afterwards  raised  to  £80.  From  the  testimony 
of  some  of  his  old  scholars,  intelligent  and  trust- 
worthy men,  it  is  evident  that  he  created  a  very 
favourable  impression  in  Barton  by  his  conduct 
and  ability.  One  cherished  till  his  latest  years 
a  prize  volume  awarded  to  him  at  the  British 
School  bearing  an  inscription  in  the  Master's 
handwriting,  and  another  had  in  his  old  age  as 
vivid  a  recollection  of  the  instruction  imparted 
to  him  by  the  Master  as  he  had  when  in  early 
life  he  attended  the  old  school  (many  years  since 
converted  into  dwelling  houses).  Shorthand  was 
not  taught  in  the  school,  but  by  the  aid  of  the 
blackboard  Isaac  Pitman  trained  the  scholars 
in  methods  of  correct  pronunciation.  The  Lan- 
castrian methods  of  education  appear  to  have  had 
the  charm  of  novelty  in  this  remote  town,  and  the 

2— {2284) 


18  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

circumstance  lingered  in  the  recollection  of  his 
old  schoolboys  that  the  marching,  which  formed 
part  of  the  system,  was  done  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  Master's  flute.  Like  many  distin- 
guished men  who  could  be  named,  Isaac  Pitman 
found  great  delight  in  early  life  in  playing  this 
instrument.  In  respect  of  discipline  he  is  described 
as  having  been  in  a  mild  way  a  martinet.  He 
seems,  however,  to  have  made  little  use  of  the 
cane.  Incorrigible  boys  were  dealt  with  by 
detention  after  school  hours,  and  the  tasks  then 
imposed  had  to  be  carried  out  under  the  eye  of 
the  Master. 

Outside  his  school  Isaac  Pitman  appears  to 
have  been  active  in  his  efforts  for  the  mental 
and  moral  improvement  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Barton.  He  gave  popular  lectures  on  astronomy, 
and  his  addresses  on  this  subject  seem  to  have 
been  highly  appreciated.  He  took  a  lively  interest 
in  Temperance  Reform,  directing  his  attack  on 
the  use  of  ardent  spirits.  A  Temperance  Society 
was  formed  at  Barton,  under  the  regulations  of 
the  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society, 
and  he  filled  the  post  of  secretary.  Work  was 
commenced  by  the  circulation  to  every  house- 
holder of  a  tract  written  by  Isaac  Pitman,  dated 
5th  November,  1834,  in  which  the  evils  of  intem- 
perance were  described  in  vigorous  language. 
The  tract  was  headed  "  Gin,  Rum,  Brandy,  and 
Whisky/ '  and  the  opening  sentences  were  calculated 
to  arrest  attention.     Its  author  wrote  ;     "  Ardent 


TEMPERANCE  ADVOCACY  19 

spirits,  pure  or  mixed,  are  pronounced  by  the 
highest  authorities  in  our  land  to  be  evil  spirits. 
This  is  not  generally  believed  :  faith  is  weak 
because  knowledge  is  imperfect.  Not  till  lately 
has  the  old-fashioned  falsity  been  exploded,  that 
1  a  comfortable  glass  does  one  good/  Sir  Astley 
Cooper  says,  '  Spirits  and  poisons  are  synonymous 
terms/  "  An  appeal  was  especially  made  to 
Christians  to  aid  in  the  work.  In  those  early 
days  of  temperance  advocacy,  the  tract  caused 
some  stir  at  Barton,  and  the  views  set  forth  in  it 
met  with  opposition.  A  Nonconformist  minister, 
residing  in  the  neighbourhood,  published  some 
strictures  on  it.  But  it  happened  that  these 
were  circulated  before  the  original  had  been  sent 
out  to  the  public,  and  consequently  Isaac  Pitman 
utilized  the  blank  leaf  of  his  tract  for  the  purpose 
of  replying  to  his  too  eager  opponent.  From 
that  time  his  interest  in  the  Temperance 
Reformation  never  abated. 

He  attended  the  services  at  the  Methodist 
place  of  worship,  and  on  19th  April,  three  months 
after  his  arrival,  he  was  admitted  on  trial  into  the 
Wesley  an  Methodist  Society,  Barton  Circuit.  After 
nearly  three  years'  membership,  his  name  was 
placed  on  the  plan  of  circuit  preachers  for  1835-6. 
This  plan  Isaac  Pitman  wrote  out  with  copper- 
plate neatness  on  an  extremely  minute  scale,  and 
it  is  interesting  to  notice  among  the  names  that 
of  one  who  was  in  frequent  communication  with 
him   in   later   years,   namely,   the    Rev.    Joseph 


20  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

Hudson,  who  took  orders  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  was  for  many  years  Vicar  of  Dodworth, 
near  Barnsley. 

In  the  course  of  his  ministrations  at  the  villages 
around  Barton,  Isaac  Pitman,  in  October,  1835, 
conducted  the  services  in  the  Methodist  chapel 
at  Ulceby,  and  he  there  saw  for  the  first  time  a 
copy  of  Bagster's  "  Comprehensive  Bible,"  in  the 
house  of  his  host,  Mr.  John  Hay,  a  substantial 
farmer.  Hitherto  the  young  schoolmaster  had 
used  for  his  private  reading  the  well-known 
octavo  Reference  Bible,  issued  by  the  Bible 
Society,  which  had  been  presented  to  him  by  the 
Committee  of  the  Borough  Road  College.  A 
careful  study  of  this  volume  had  led  to  the  dis- 
covery of  certain  errors  in  the  references,  and  as 
he  was  desirous  of  ascertaining  whether  the  "  Com- 
prehensive "  repeated  any  of  these  mistakes,  he 
borrowed  the  volume  and  took  it  home  with  a 
view  to  instituting  a  comparison.  He  found  that 
of  thirty-eight  errors,  which  he  had  detected  in 
the  Bible  Society's  edition,  fifteen  appeared  in  the 
"  Comprehensive/ '  A  letter  was  addressed  to 
the  Bible  Society  giving  a  list  of  the  thirty-eight 
errors.  Though  the  communication  was  not 
acknowledged,  the  Society  in  subsequent  years 
corrected  the  errors  which  had  been  pointed  out 
in  their  Reference  Bible. 

On  the  same  date  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Samuel 
Bagster,  the  founder  of  the  well-known  publishing 
house  of    Bagster  &  Son,  whose  publications  in 


BIBLE   CORRECTION  21 

6  8  6~B.        c^- 

association  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  it  has  been 
well  said,  "  earned  for  him  the  esteem  of  all 
Biblical  scholars. "  As  this  letter  brought  Isaac 
Pitman  in  touch  with  one  whose  influence  on  his 
life  work  was  very  considerable,  it  will  be  of 
interest  to  relate  the  circumstances  which  led  to 
their  early  acquaintance.  The  communication 
addressed  to  Mr.  Bagster  was  dated  15th  October, 
and  called  attention  to  the  errors  which  the 
writer  had  discovered  in  references  in  the  "  Com- 
prehensive Bible."  "  I  have  made  it  my  custom," 
Isaac  Pitman  said,  "  for  two  or  three  years  in 
my  morning  and  evening  reading  of  Scripture, 
to  refer  to  every  parallel  place  ;  in  some  measure 
appreciating  the  value  of  the  plan.  If  you  would 
like  to  place  a  copy  of  your  Bible  under  my  care, 
to  be  considered  your  property,  I  would  make  a 
constant  and  careful  use  of  it,  and  give  you  the 
benefit  of  the  corrections  and  mistakes  which  I 
might  discover  in  reading  it  through." 

The  next  coach  from  London  brought  a  prompt 
reply  from  Mr.  Bagster,  accompanied  by  a  copy 
of  his  "  Comprehensive  Bible,"  and  subsequently 
a  second  copy,  divided  into  seven  portions,  each 
to  be  returned  when  read,  was  forwarded  at  Isaac 
Pitman's  suggestion.  Some  idea  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  self-imposed  task  may  be  gathered  from 
the  fact  that  the  marginal  references  in  the  work 
amount  to  a  total  of  five  hundred  thousand.  The 
young  schoolmaster  made  a  careful  estimate  of 
the   amount   of  reading   and  revision   he   could 


22  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

accomplish  daily,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
he  could  complete  the  undertaking  in  three  years 
from  the  latter  part  of  October,  1835  ;  as  a  matter 
of  fact  he  reached  the  end  well  within  that  period, 
for  it  was  in  August,  1838,  that  the  work  was 
finished.  Moreover,  these  were  years  in  the  life 
of  the  reviser  when  hindrances  were  to  manifest 
themselves  that  he  could  not  at  this  time  anticipate, 
which,  with  any  less  steadfast  worker,  would  have 
effectually  brought  all  progress  to  a  standstill. 
Benn  Pitman  states  that  at  least  five  thousand 
hours  of  the  closest  mental  and  physical  applica- 
tion were  devoted  to  this  revision,  and  that  it  was 
religiously  pursued  every  day  till  completed. 
Mr.  Bagster,  he  also  tells  us,  offered  to  pay  any 
sum  which  Isaac  Pitman  might  name  for  his 
services,  but  the  ardent  searcher  of  the  Scriptures 
would  take  nothing.  To  a  friend  who  suggested 
that  he  ought  to  accept  payment  he  replied,  "  I 
offered  to  do  the  work  freely  ;  and,  of  course,  I 
would  not  now  accept  anything  for  it ;  it  has  been 
a  great  satisfaction  and  a  benefit  to  me  ;  but  now, 
when  I  want  to  give  my  whole  attention  to  my 
Phonetic  Shorthand,  I  am  only  too  grateful  that 
it  is  completed/' 

These  laborious  investigations  resulted  in  the 
discovery  of  at  least  one  error  per  page,  some- 
times more,  in  the  references,  and  when  the  Bible 
was  afterwards  printed  with  all  these  emendations 
duly  made,  the  grateful  publisher  presented  to  his 
voluntary  helper  a  superbly  bound  copy  of  the 


COMPREHENSIVE    BIBLE  "    PRESENTED   TO   ISAAC   PITMAN 
BY   MR.    SAMUEL   BAGSTER. 


A   PRESENTATION  23 

large  edition  of  the  "  Comprehensive  Bible/'  on 
the  cover  of  which  was  a  silver  plate  bearing  this 
inscription  :  "  Presented  to  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman 
as  a  token  of  esteem,  and  in  remembrance  of  the 
friendly  diligence  with  which  he  laboured  to 
secure  the  Typographical  Accuracy  of  this  edition 
of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  by  Samuel  Bag$ter, 
March,  1843."  The  Bible  revision  had  resulted 
in  a  lasting  friendship  between  publisher  and 
reviser,  and  had,  as  will  be  seen  later,  a  very 
important  bearing  on  the  invention  and 
propagation  of  Phonography.    . 

At  Chapel  Brigg  (Glamford  Briggs)  on  5th 
January,  1835,  Isaac  Pitman  was  married  to  Mrs. 
Mary  Holgate,  a  lady  of  good  birth  and  education, 
the  widow  of  Mr.  George  Holgate,  solicitor,  of 
Barton.  Her  late  husband  had  left  her  an  income 
for  life,  so  that  Isaac  Pitman  and  his  wife  were  able 
to  establish  a  well-appointed  home,  such  as  would 
have  been  impossible  on  the  slender  stipend  of 
his  scholastic  post. 


Ill 

EVENTFUL    YEARS    AT    WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE 

1836-1837 

In  the  ancient  Gloucestershire  town  of  Wotton- 
under-Edge,  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  Cotswold  Hills, 
and  situated  in  a  district  famous  alike  for  its 
scenery  and  its  associations,  a  number  of  the 
inhabitants — in  emulation,  no  doubt,  of  what  was 
being  done  elsewhere — decided  to  provide  facilities 
for  popular  education.  A  Nonconformist  school 
committee  was  formed,  and  at  the  invitation  of 
this  body  Isaac  Pitman,  in  January,  1836,  went 
from  Barton  to  take  up  the  duties  of  Master  at 
the  new  British  School  established  at  Wotton. 
The  salary  was  the  same,  and  the  school  was  of 
similar  size.  Personal  reasons  appear  to  have 
strongly  influenced  him  in  making  the  change. 
His  elder  brother,  Jacob,  had  married  and  settled 
in  a  pleasant  house  with  grounds,  situated  at 
North  Nibley,  not  far  distant  from  Wotton,  and 
here  Jacob's  wife,  who  had  formerly  been  a 
governess,  conducted  a  ladies'  school.  Isaac  was 
glad  of  the  opportunity  of  residing  near  his 
brother,  and  within  easy  distance  of  the  rest  of 
his  family.  His  younger  brothers,  Benn  and 
Henry,  lived  with  him  at  Wotton  and  attended 
his  school. 

It  was  about  this  period  that  Samuel  Pitman 

24 


KINGSTON   HOUSE  25 

removed  his  weaving  business  from  Trowbridge 
to  the  neighbouring  town  of  Bradford-on-Avon 
(where  water  power  could  be  utilized),  and  for 
some  years  occupied  Kingston  House.  This  fam- 
ous structure,  which  Aubrey  described  as  "  the 
best  house  for  the  quality  of  a  gentleman  in  all 
Wiltshire/'  was  built  towards  the  end  of. the 
sixteenth  century.  The  architect  is  unknown, 
but  the  design  has  been  ascribed  to  John  of  Padua. 
After  it  ceased  to  be  the  home  of  the  Pitman 
family,  it  was  used  as  a  farm-house,  but  passing 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Stephen  Moulton  in  1848, 
was  admirably  restored,  and  is  now  justly  admired 
as  a  fine  example  of  the  architectural  taste  of  the 
period  in  which  it  was  built. 

The  length  of  Isaac  Pitman's  residence  at 
Wotton  was  three  years  and  a  half,  and  in  many 
respects  this  was  the  most  important  epoch  of 
his  life,  for  its  whole  course  and  aims  were  deter- 
mined by  what  then  happened.  In  the  present 
chapter  we  propose  to  deal  with  the  earlier  portion 
of  these  eventful  years  only,  namely,  the  period 
of  less  than  two  years  which  preceded  the  invention 
of  Phonography. 

Very  little  either  in  the  nature  of  narrative  or 
anecdote  is  now  obtainable  concerning  Isaac 
Pitman's  conduct  of  his  second  British  School. 
In  the  turmoil  which  arose  over  the  religious 
difficulty  referred  to  below,  his  educational  work 
seems  to  have  been  all  but  forgotten.  But  that 
it   was  very  successful  the  following  facts  will 


26  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

show.  The  School  Committee  engaged  a  "  long 
room  "  called  "  The  Folly,"  in  Sim  Lane  ;  for 
about  a  year  the  school  was  conducted  in  this 
room,  when  it  was  found  necessary,  in  consequence 
of  the  increase  in  the  number  of  scholars,  to  remove 
to  larger  premises.  These  were  found  in  the 
first  floor  of  a  disused  factory  in  what  was  known 
as  "  The  Steep/ '  at  the  bottom  of  Long  Street, 
a  building  which  afterwards  became  a  Church 
Institute. 

The  change  in  Isaac  Pitman's  religious  convic- 
tions which  led  to  the  "  difficulty/ '  came  about 
under  the  following  circumstances.  In  his  journey 
from  the  North  to  Gloucestershire,  he  made  the 
acquaintance  on  the  coach  between  Birmingham 
and  Wotton,  of  Mr.  John  Kingwell  Bragge,  of 
Clifton,  an  uncle  of  a  well-known  Birmingham 
citizen.  Mr.  Bragge  says,  in  a  published  letter, 
that  his  stage-coach  companion  led  the  way  to  a 
conversation  on  religious  subjects  and  authors, 
and  "  I  ventured  at  length  to  ask  him/,  he  goes  on, 
"if  he  had  ever  read  any  of  the  writings  of 
Swedenborg."  The  young  schoolmaster  replied 
that  he  had  read  with  delight  a  work  by  the  Rev. 
John  Clowes  (Rector  of  St.  John's,  Manchester), 
in  which  some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Swedish 
seer  were  explained,  but  confessed  that  prejudice 
had  prevented  him  from  studying  the  revelations 
at  first  hand  in  the  works  of  the  author.  A 
fortnight  later  Isaac  Pitman  paid  a  visit  to  Mr. 
Bragge,    when    the   works   of   Swedenborg  were 


RELIGIOUS   CONTROVERSY  27 

further  discussed.  A  correspondence  ensued,  be- 
ginning with  a  letter  dated  9th  February,  1836, 
from  Isaac  Pitman.  The  letters  were  published  in 
the  Intellectual  Repository,  between  the  following 
September  and  March,  1838,  and  in  them  the 
inquirer's  full  acceptance  of  the  doctrines  discussed 
was  set  forth. 

A  controversy  of  some  bitterness  arose  over 
Isaac  Pitman's  change  of  faith,  which  it  would 
serve  no  useful  purpose  to  describe  at  length. 
As  he  did  not  retire  from  his  connection  with  and 
work  for  the  Wesleyan  body,  he  was  ejected  from 
it  •  and  strong  condemnation  of  his  views  was 
expressed  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Congregational 
chapel,  when  he  was  among  the  worshippers. 
During  the  remainder  of  his  residence  at  Wotton, 
therefore,  he  attended  divine  service  at  the  parish 
church.  On  first  doing  so,  he  considered  it 
necessary  to  protest  aloud  at  the  invocation  of  the 
Trinity  in  the  Litany,  but  the  Vicar,  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  R.  Perkins,  B.C.L.,  a  clergyman  of 
Christian  wisdom  and  tolerance,  allowed  the 
interruption  to  pass  unnoticed,  and  became,  in 
fact,  on  very  amicable  terms  with  his  parishioner. 
The  Vicar's  friendship  was  highly  appreciated  by 
the  Pitman  family  from  that  time  until  they  left 
Gloucestershire.  Consequent  on  Isaac  Pitman's 
acceptance  of  Swedenborg's  revelation,  the  School 
Committee  dismissed  him  from  his  Mastership. 

In  some  "  Reminiscences "  dealing  with  his 
religious  views,  published  by  himself  at  the  close 


28  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

of  his  life,  Isaac  Pitman  says  that  the  two  seem- 
ingly casual  events,  the  visit  to  Ulceby  (which  led 
to  the  friendship  with  Samuel  Bagster),  and  the 
coach  ride  from  Barton  (which  resulted  in  the 
change  in  his  scholastic  position),  "  under  the 
guiding  hand  of  the  Divine  Providence  shaped  the 
course  of  my  life."  They  were,  as  we  shall  see, 
amongst  the  causes  of  the  invention  of  Phono- 
graphy, or  Phonetic  Shorthand,  of  which  he  has 
stated  that  his  early  study  of  Walker  was  the 
"  first  step." 

During  these  years  of  storm  and  stress,  it  is 
characteristic  of  the  man  that  he  went  on  un- 
interruptedly with  the  revision  of  the  "  Compre- 
hensive Bible,"  in  accordance  with  the  plan  he  had 
formulated  at  Barton.  His  views  on  total  absti- 
nence deepened.  About  the  year  1837  he  knocked 
the  bung  out  of  his  beer  barrel  and  poured  its 
contents  down  the  sewer,  and  for  the  rest  of  his 
life  discontinued  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  in 
any  form.  It  was  at  Wotton  that  he  adopted  a 
vegetarian  diet.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  to  kill 
a  fowl  for  the  cook  led  to  humanitarian  reflections, 
and  a  resolve  to  dispense  with  animal  food.  There 
was  also  the  influence  of  example — two  ladies  who 
resided  at  Ebworth  Park,  near  Wotton,  with  whom 
he  was  acquainted,  were  vegetarians.  A  literary 
influence  must  not  be  overlooked,  namely,  the 
reading  of  Shelley's  "  Queen  Mab,"  and  to  such 
a  diligent  Bible  reader  Genesis  i,  29  was  a  com- 
mand. Following  the  adoption  of  a  vegetarian  diet 


•   I 


76 


G.   J.   HOLYOAKE  29 

came  relief  from  dyspepsia,  from  which  he  suffered 
severely  at  this  period  of  intense  application  to  the 
work  to  which  he  had  set  his  hand. 

At  this  time  Isaac  Pitman  showed  interest  in 
an  educational  movement  which  his  friendship 
with  the  Bragge  family  probably  brought  under  his 
notice.  He  attended  the  prize  distribution  at  the 
Birmingham  Mechanics'  Institute  in  1836.  One 
of  the  prize  winners  was  George  Jacob  Holyoake 
(1817-1896),  then  following  the  occupation  of  a 
whitesmith,  but  a  diligent  student.  Holyoake 
had  won  the  first  prize  in  mathematics.  At  that 
time  mathematical  instruments  were  expensive, 
and  it  became  known  that  the  student  had 
ingeniously  constructed  a  pair  of  compasses  for  his 
own  use  from  sheet  iron.  Isaac  Pitman  presented 
young  Holyoake  with  a  set  of  mathematical 
instruments,  accompanying  this  additional  prize 
with  the  remark  that  "  it  was  a  pity  a  master  mind 
should  be  so  crippled."  Young  Holyoake — who 
had  then  no  intuition  of  his  future  career  as  a 
co-operator  and  reformer — replied  that  he  hoped 
to  show  his  gratitude  for  the  gift  by  renewed 
exertions  in  the  cause  of  science. 


IV 

INVENTION   OF    "  STENOGRAPHIC   SOUND-HAND  " 

1837-1839 

During  the  early  part  of  1837  Isaac  Pitman 
opened  a  private  school  at  Wotton-under-Edge, 
and  secured  suitable  premises  for  the  purpose  at 
the  top  of  Long  Street,  the  British  School  from 
which  he  had  been  dismissed  being  at  the  opposite 
end  of  the  same  street.  There  was  an  opening 
for  a  school  of  a  higher  grade  than  that  which  he 
had  just  left,  and  in  a  very  short  time  he  derived 
a  larger  income  from  his  new  enterprise  than  the 
salary  he  had  previously  received  from  the  Com- 
mittee. Shorthand  was  among  the  subjects  in 
which  he  decided  to  impart  instruction  in  his  new 
school.  He  had  made  much  use  of  the  art  since 
he  acquired  it.  From  the  year  1833  he  had  written 
out  all  his  correspondence  in  shorthand  in  a  letter 
book,  afterwards  transcribing  these  letters  in 
longhand  for  despatch  to  the  addressees.  Letters 
to  the  Press  and  other  literary  productions  were 
also  first  composed  in  shorthand,  and  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  taking  notes  of  sermons  and  speeches 
in  which  he  was  specially  interested,  as  he  could 
write  at  a  fair  though  not  a  high  speed.  But  he 
had  not  hitherto  attempted  to  teach  the  art  in 
the  British  Schools  he  had  conducted.  Now,  in 
a  position  of  greater  freedom,  and  with  a  superior 

30 


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MASTERY   OF  SHORTHAND  31 

class  of  scholars  to  that  attracted  to  the  elementary 
schools,  instruction  in  shorthand  was  introduced 
in  his  own  school. 

The  shorthand  method  which  Isaac  Pitman 
mastered  in  the  course  of  his  youthful  studies  was 
William  Harding's  edition  of  the  system  of  Samuel  \t 
Taylor.  An  account  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  learned  the  art  will  appropriately  preface 
the  story  of  his  earliest  attempt  in  the  domain  of 
shorthand  authorship,  in  which  he  was  destined 
to  become  famous.  In  the  year  1829  a  copy  of 
the  system  mentioned  above  was  lent  him  by  his 
cousin,  Charles  Laverton,  a  young  man  of  great 
promise,  who  had  acquired  shorthand  as  an  aid 
to  his  study  for  the  ministry.  The  cousin  was  a 
son  of  William  Laverton,  who  married  a  sister  of 
Isaac  Pitman's  mother,  and  it  is  of  interest  to 
mention,  in  passing,  that  other  sons  of  William 
Laverton,  and  cousins  of  the  subject  of  this  bio- 
graphy, were  Mr.  Abraham  Laverton,  some  time 
Member  of  Parliament  for  Westbury,  Wiltshire, 
and  Mr.  Frederick  Laverton,  the  founder  of  the 
well-known  Bristol  house  furnishing  business. 
Isaac  Pitman  and  Charles  Laverton  were  of  a 
similar  studious  bent ;  they  helped  each  other  in 
their  studies,  and  a  close  attachment  existed 
between  them.  This  friendship  was  broken  in  a 
tragic  way  by  the  accidental  death  of  Charles 
Laverton.  He  had  left  England  for  America, 
intending  to  study  at  Harvard  University,  but 
when  about  to  land  he  slipped  from  the  plank 


32  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

connecting  the  vessel  with  the  wharf,  and  was 
drowned. 

The  feature  of  Harding's  publication  which 
stimulated  Isaac  Pitman  to  make  himself  proficient 
in  the  art  was  an  essay  by  William  Gawtress,  of 
which  he  thought  so  highly  in  later  years  that  he 
quoted  it  in  his  own  "  Manual  of  Phonography  " 
in  many  successive  editions  of  that  work. 
"  Phonography/'  he  long  afterwards  wrote,  "  with 
all  the  intellectual  and  social  benefits  that  follow 
in  its  train,  has  resulted  from  the  seemingly  trifling 
circumstance  that  the  author,  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, learned  Taylor's  system  of  shorthand  from 
Harding's  edition,  and  that  he  was  incited  to  the 
study  chiefly  by  the  perusal  of  the  eloquent 
enumeration  of  some  of  the  advantages  arising 
from  the  practice  of  the  art,  from  the  pen  of 
Mr.  Gawtress,  the  publisher  of  an  improved  edition 
of  Byrom's  system." 

Taylor's  shorthand  was  taught  by  Isaac  Pitman 
to  a  class  of  the  more  advanced  boys  in  his  school ; 
but  he  soon  discovered  that  it  was  necessary,  if 
shorthand  was  to  become  a  subject  of  instruction, 
as  he  desired  it  to  be  throughout  the  schools  of  the 
country,  that  a  suitable  treatise  should  be  available 
at  a  much  lower  price  and  in  a  more  concise  form 
than  the  cheapest  edition  of  Taylor  then  known 
to  him.  He  accordingly  prepared  a  small 
instruction  book  on  this  system,  which  he  supposed 
could  be  published  at  the  low  figure  of  three  pence, 
and  submitted  the  manuscript  to  his  friend,  Mr. 


ISAAC    PITMAN'S    HOUSE    AT   WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE 

(The  "  Birthplace  of  Phonography  ") 


A   FRUITFUL  SUGGESTION  33 

Bagster,  accompanied  by  a  letter  dated  24th  April, 
1837.  Mr.  Bagster  readily  agreed  to  undertake 
the  publication  of  the  work,  but  before  taking 
any  practical  steps  submitted  the  manuscript  to  a 
professional  reporter  for  his  opinion.  This  was 
communicated  to  Isaac  Pitman,  and  was  to  the 
following  effect  : 

The  system  Mr.  Pitman  has  sent  to  you  is  already  in  the 
market ;  now  if  he  will  compile  a  new  system,  I  think  you 
will  be  more  likely  to  succeed  in  your  object  to  popularize 
shorthand  ;   there  will  be  novelty  about  it. 

The  name  of  this  sagacious  and  impartial 
adviser,  who,  no  doubt,  himself  used  one  of  the 
old  stenographic  methods,  has  not  been  handed 
down  to  us.  He  deserves  the  gratitude  of  the 
English-speaking  world  for  making  the  suggestion 
which  led  Isaac  Pitman  to  become  a  shorthand 
inventor.  But  if  we  cannot  pay  him  the  honour 
which  is  his  due,  we  can  at  least  give  praise  to 
Samuel  Bagster,  not  only  for  having  elicited  this 
epochal  proposal,  but  for  his  friendly  offices  during 
the  next  few  years  in  advising  the  inexperienced 
young  schoolmaster  on  many  practical  points  which 
contributed  to  the  success  of  the  new  system.  "  I 
had  no  intention  of  becoming  a  shorthand  author/ ' 
the  Inventor  of  Phonography  remarked  at  Man- 
chester, "  the  ambition  of  appearing  before  the 
public  in  that  capacity  never  entered  my  mind, 
until  it  was  suggested  to  me  as  a  means  of 
accomplishing  my  end." 

The  opinion  above  quoted  appears  to  have  been 

3— (2284) 


34  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

communicated  to  Isaac  Pitman  in  the  month  of 
May.  He  at  once  took  steps  to  carry  the  idea  into 
effect,  and  started  on  the  enterprise  with  the 
sanguine  enthusiasm  which  was  such  a  marked 
feature  of  his  mental  temperament  throughout  his 
long  life.  "  When  the  phonetic  idea  had  taken 
lodgment  in  Isaac's  brain,"  observes  his  brother 
Benn,  "  we  talked  of  nothing  else  on  our  way  to 
and  from  school,  and  in  our  occasional  morning 
walks,  and  intense  was  the  joy  of  my  brother  at 
the  completion  of  his  long  task  (on  the  '  Compre- 
hensive Bible  ')  and  the  opportunity  it  afforded 
him  to  give  his  time  and  thoughts,  as  well  as  heart, 
to  new  ideas  in  the  field  of  experiment  and 
usefulness  then  opening  up  to  him." 

The  summer  months  of  1837  were  consequently 
exceedingly  busy  ones  in  the  life  of  Isaac  Pitman. 
In  addition  to  his  school  duties  and  the  completion 
of  the  Bible  revision,  he  embarked  on  the  work 
of  constructing  a  system  of  shorthand  based  on  the 
sounds  of  the  English  language,  with  the  analysis 
of  which  his  study  of  Walker's  "  Principles  of 
Pronunciation  "  had  rendered  him,  as  we  have 
seen,  thoroughly  familiar.  All  the  spare  time  not 
occupied  in  other  duties  appears  to  have  been 
devoted  to  the  construction  of  shorthand 
alphabets,  and  to  experiments  with  them  ;  even 
the  Midsummer  holiday  of  three  weeks  was 
occupied  in  the  task.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
Isaac  Pitman  was  most  deeply  engrossed  in  ex- 
periments with  his  system  on  that  momentous  day 


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Drccion    hylsa>ac    Titman,    St&nograjoh&r. 
FACSIMILE    OF    PLATE    1    IN    "  STENOGRAPHIC    SOUND-HAND  " 

Key  to  Plate  2   on  opposite  page. 

Inscription  over  the  Diar-'a,m. — This  alphabet  contains  sixteen  vowel  sounds,  twenty-five 
single  consonants,  and  twenty-four  double  ones  ;  total  sixty-five  letters,  including  every 
vowel  sound  in  the  language,  and  every  combination  of  consonants  that  will  commence  a 
syllable,  all  drawn  from  this  diagram. 

Examples . — la,  The  plainest  practical  plsn  of  putting  pen  to  paper  for  the  production 
of  peerless  poems  or  profound  and  powerful  prose  for  the  Press  or  for  private  pursuits 
ever  published.  3J1,  Tea,  tin  ;  pay,  pet ;  father,  fat ;  daw,  dot ;  show,  shut  ;  coo, 
could  ;  fine,  duke,  boy  ;  vow.  5«,  Fear  thou  the  Lord  in  thy  youth  ;  hate  and  avoid  evil ; 
love  and  pursue  good  ;  and  so  walk  in  the  paths  of  life.  7/,  Anguish  bb,  bd,  bf  ;  8a,  db, 
dd,  df ;  8d  sp,  st,  sf,  sk,  sr,  sm  ;  ga,  sb,  sd,  sf,  sg  ;  ge,  rbl,  pkr  ;  9g,  ff ,  mm,  prpr  ;  10a,  least,  all, 
oil ;  right,  our,  raw  ,  case,  us,  see  ;  among,  owing  ;  11c,  sprain,  strong,  screw  ;  n/,  splinter, 
swing  ;  126,  principle,  instruct  ;  i2g,  possible,  toaster,  whisper  ;  13a,  maxim,  sticks  ;  13c, 
queen,  request ;  13^,  exist,  languish  ;  13^,  lm,  ;  14a,  beyond,  statistics,  open,  alter,  altitude  ; 
14/,  mood,  tune  ;   15a,  transact,  wisdom  •   childhood,  without,  forward,  professions, contents, 


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FACSIMILE   OF   PLATE   2    IN    "  STENOGRAPHIC    SOUND-HAND  " 

Key  to  Plate  2   [continued). 

incomplete,  missionaries  ;  xba,  thoughts,  comes,  thou  mayest ;  300,  60,000,  300,000,  second, 
third,  fourthly  ;  17a,  comma,  semicolon,  colon,  period,  admiration,  interrogation,  irony, 
parentheses,  brackets,  hyphen,  quotation  marks  ;  171,  notwithstanding,  nevertheless,  indis- 
pensable, incomprehensible,  satisfactorily  ;  \%e,  as  it  is  said,  there  are,  kingdom  of  heaven, 
His  Majesty's  ministers,  practice  of  the  Court. 

Rules  of  Life. — 1.  To  read  often  and  to  meditate  well  on  the  Word  of  God. 

2.  To  be  always  content  and  resigned  under  the  dispensations  of  Providence. 

3.  Always  to  observe  a  propriety  of  behaviour,  and  to  preserve  the  conscience  clear  and 
void  of  offence. 

4.  To  obey  that  which  is  ordained,  to  be  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  cf  our 
employment,  and  to  do  everything  in  our  power  to  make  ourselves  as  universally  useful  as 
possible. 

•   Always  to  remember   "  The  Lord  will  provide." 


SHORTHAND   INVENTION  35 

when  Queen  Victoria  succeeded  to  the  throne,  so 
that  the  art  is  coeval  with  the  opening  of  the 
Victorian  Era,  of  which  it  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
most  useful  inventions. 

In  setting  about  the  construction  of  a  new 
system  of  shorthand,  the  inventor  turned  his 
attention  first  to  the  representation  of  vowel 
sounds.  This  is  a  feature  in  which  preceding 
systems  were  either  imperfect,  because  they 
essayed  to  represent  only  the  five  vowels  of  the 
common  alphabet ;  or  ineffective,  because  their 
vowel  signs  were  impracticable.  For  some  time 
Isaac  Pitman  pondered  over  the  advisability  of 
introducing  into  his  proposed  system  the  vowel 
scale  now  so  widely  known,  and  proved  by  the 
experience  of  millions  of  shorthand  writers  to  be 
the  best  practical  method  of  representing  the 
vowels  ever  devised  for  English  shorthand.  It 
was  with  "  fear  and  trembling  "  he  has  himself 
told  us  that  he  framed  the  scale  which  ran  origin- 
ally, ee,  eh,  ah  ;  aw,  oh,  oo  ;  and  i>  e,  a ;  oy  u,  oo, 

"\  ee     -I  eh      j  ah        "|  aw    -i  oh      j  oo 

\  z        ]  e        \  a  \  o        -\  u         |  oo 

and  also  provided  signs  for  the  representation  of 
four  diphthongs. 

He  had  little  confidence  in  the  usefulness  of 
this  method  of  representing  the  vowels,  but  he 
had,  in  fact,  found  the  most  serviceable  arrange- 
ment. When  this  vowel  scale  was  decided  on, 
it  was  clear  that  the  new  method  of  shorthand 


36  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

must  be  "  writing  by  sound,"  and  that  the  same 
principle  must  be  followed  in  the  construction  of 
the  remaining  portions  of  the  system.  "  I  saw 
the  truth/'  he  exclaims,  "  practised  it,  and  it 
became  delightful.  In  a  few  months  I  got  clear 
of  the  shallow  waters  and  breakers  of  our  present 
orthography,  and  committed  myself  to  the 
boundless  deep  of  phonographic  writing. " 

The  story  of  the  invention  of  his  alphabet  for 
representing  the  consonant  sounds  of  the  language 
has  been  several  times  told  by  Isaac  Pitman.  It 
was  related  in  detail  in  a  paper  entitled  "  The 
Genesis  of  Phonography,"  which  he  read  on  28th 
September,  1887,  at  the  first  International  Short- 
hand Congress  held  in  London,  when,  after 
remarking  that  the  system  was  "  on  the  anvil  "  for 
six  months,  he  said  : 

"  The  shorthand  alphabet  given  in  the  first 
edition  of  Phonography  contains  the  elements  of 
the  present  matured  system,  but  in  several  of  its 
details  it  was  imperfect,  because  it  proceeded  from 
a  finite  mind.  These  imperfections  were  dis- 
covered by  experience  and  removed.  As  a  skilful 
anatomist  can,  from  three  or  four  bones,  construct 
the  entire  skeleton  of  an  animal,  so  from  three  or 
four  shorthand  signs  or  letters  that  have  been 
acknowledged  from  the  commencement  of  short- 
hand writing  as  the  best  for  certain  letters,  we  can 
construct  a  natural  shorthand  alphabet.  The 
three  leading  bones  in  the  shorthand  skeleton  are 
|  t,  >~*  n$  ^  Ts  struck  upwards.  The  form  or 
direction  of  stroke  in  t  determines  all  the  other 
letters  of  the  same  class.     They  must  be  either 


CONSONANT  SIGNS  37 

/py  I  h  \  cAay,  &,  or   \  p3   \   t,  /  chay,  —  k. 

The  first  set  was  adopted  in  the  first  edition  of 
Phonography  (but  chay  was  curved  instead  of 
straight)  and  the  second  and  more  practical  set  in 
the  second  and  subsequent  editions.  The  posi- 
tions of  the  four  right  lines  to  represent  the 
explodent  consonants  determine  the  positions  of 
the  curves  to  represent  the  continuant  consonants 
that  are  made  with  the  same  organs.  Thus,  v_  / 
(labial,  written  in  the  same  direction  as  the  labial 
\  p),  (  ith,  )  s  (dental  letters,  written  in  the 
same  direction  as  the  dental  t),  J  ish,  (a  palatal 
written  in  the  direction  of  the  palatal  /  chay). 
These  light  letters  for  light  sounds  determine  the 
forms  of  the  corresponding  heavy  sounds,  which 
are  represented  by  corresponding  heavy  letters, 
namely  : — 

\  b,   |  d,  I  j,  gay,  V.  v,   (  thee,  )  zee,    J  zhee. 

i(N  ^  is  settled  in  this  form  by  shorthand  usage, 
and  this  determines  the  form  of  m,  because  the 
two  letters  frequently  follow  each  other  as 
<*w  mn,  ^^  nm.  The  nasal  ^  ng  is  related  to  n, 
and  is  written  thus.  The  two  liquids  /  and  r  are 
letters  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  require  the 
convenience  of  strokes  that  have  both  an  upward 
and  downward  movement,  that  they  may  con- 
veniently unite  with  other  consonants.  This 
double  direction  is  provided  by  giving  r  the  spare 
downward  curve  "^  r,  in  addition  to  its  historically 
settled  form  ^  r.  L  T  is  represented  by  a  curve 
in  the  r  direction,  written  either  up  or  down. 
There  remain  but  three  other  letters  to  consider, 
namely,  the  two  hybrids  or  vowel-consonant 
letters  w,  y,  and  the  aspirate  h.  W  </  and  y  S 
receive  forms  from  what  may  be  called  the  waste 
material    of    the    pi    and    pr    series    of    double 


38  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

consonants  ;  and  the  aspirate  takes  the  two  forms 
/  «i-*  which  are  two  unused  signs  taken  from  the 
spy  series  of  treble  consonants.  Thus  the  short- 
hand alphabet  is  complete,  and  there  is  a  good 
reason  why  every  stroke  should  represent  the 
letter  to  which  it  is  assigned.  The  making  of  the 
phonographic  alphabet  is  really  another  version 
of  Columbus's  egg.  Anybody  could  make  an  egg 
stand  on  end  by  first  giving  it  a  tap  on  the  table  ; 
and  a  '  schoolboy  '  could  have  made  the  phono- 
graphic alphabet  if  he  had  noticed  the  three  letters 
I  t,  w  n,  ^  r,  running  through  the  history  of 
shorthand,  and  had  put  all  the  other  letters  in 
their  places  by  the  side  of  these  three,  paying 
regard  to  the  placing  of  the  straight  lines  and 
curves  in  the  four  possible  directions  corresponding 
to  the  four  seats  of  articulation  in  the  mouth  for 
the  production  of  consonants,  namely,  the  lips, 
teeth,  palate,  and  throat ;  and  allowing  the 
gutturals  and  nasals  both  to  take  the  horizontal 
direction." 

The  consonant  portion  of  the  alphabet  of  1837 
differs,  as  indicated  above,  from  the  "  more 
practical "  allocation  adopted  after  the  system 
had  been  in  actual  use.  Further,  the  inventor 
was  content  with  the  arrangement  6,  d,  /,  g,  and 
so  forth,  following  the  order  of  the  Roman  letters, 
but  he  promised  an  "  alphabet  according  to 
nature  "  if  the  first  presentation  of  his  system  met 
with  acceptance.  This  anticipation  was  happily 
fulfilled,  and  in  subsequent  editions  the  consonants 
were  arranged  in  their  natural  order,  p,  b  ;  t,  d  ; 
ch, ;,  and  so  on.     But  the  three  distinctive  merits 


THE   HOOKS  39 

of  Isaac  Pitman's  treatment  of  the  consonants 
were  exhibited  in  his  first  work,  namely,  (1)  an 
extension  in  the  number  of  characters  which 
(following  the  analysis  of  Walker)  gave  a  sign  for 
each  consonant  sound  ;  (2)  an  economy  of  steno- 
graphic material,  by  using  light  and  heavy  strokes 
respectively  for  the  paired  sounds  ;  and,  (3)  the 
production  of  an  alphabet  of  simple  strokes  for 
single  consonants,  thus  rendering  possible  a  super- 
structure of  abbreviating  devices  for  indicating 
two  or  more  consonants  by  a  single  inflection, 
which  is  a  distinguishing  merit  of  the  system. 

In  regard  to  the  last  named  point,  we  have  in 
the  first  edition  the  introduction  of  the  hook  signs 
which  so  greatly  aid  the  writer,  by  enabling  him 
to  represent  two  characters  by  a  hook  attached  to 
a  stem.  The  representation  of  the  frequent 
recurrence  of  I  or  r  with  other  consonants  was,  for 
example,  provided  for  in  this  way.  The  large 
initial  hook  standing  for  tw  or  dm  was,  however, 
soon  discarded,  though  it  has  survived  in  America. 
In  imitation  of  some  older  systems,  "  Stenographic 
Sound-Hand  "  was  provided  with  certain  arbitrary 
characters  bearing  no  resemblance  to  alphabetical 
signs,  but  these  happily  disappeared  from  all 
subsequent  editions.  In  a  crude  fashion — follow- 
ing the  lead  of  older  systems — the  consonant 
signs  were  allocated  to  the  representation  of 
common  words,  but  a  far  better  and  a  more 
scientific  method  of  representing  words  of 
frequent  occurrence  was  adopted  later  on  in  the 


40  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

"  Grammalogues."  There  is  a  suggestion  relative  to 
a  method  of  contracting  frequently  occurring  words 
with  long  outlines,  but  the  plan  was  not  of  practical 
utility,  and  was  not  a  feature  of  subsequent 
editions.  The  method  of  "  phrasing,"  by  which 
the  signs  for  several  words  are  written  without 
lifting  the  pen — one  of  the  most  successful  features 
of  the  Pitman  system — is  suggested  in  a  direction 
on  "  joining  little  words  together."  The  advan- 
tages of  halving  or  doubling  the  length  of  characters 
was  not  yet  recognized  by  Isaac  Pitman,  who 
refers  to  the  principle  as  "objectionable."1  In 
this  and  in  many  other  directions,  the  practical 
experience  of  subsequent  years  suggested  useful 
improvements  and  additions  to  the  Pitmanic 
system  which  were  undreamt  of  by  its  inventor  in 
1837.  In  later  years  he  was  disposed  to  charac- 
terize his  first  essay  in  shorthand  authorship  as 
crude  and  imperfect,  and  so  by  comparison  with 
later  editions  it  undoubtedly  is,  but  sufficient  has 
been  said  to  show  that  "  Stenographic  Sound- 
Hand  "  contained  the  fruitful  germs  from  which 
the  perfected  system  sprang. 

The  new  shorthand  system  was  introduced  to 
the  world  in  the  form  of  a  booklet  of  crown 
16mo  size  (3J  in.  by  5  in.),  consisting  of  twelve 
pages  of  letter-press  and  two  lithographed  plates, 
enclosed  in  a  drab  cover  of  thin  cardboard,,  on  the 

1  Before  he  left  Wotton,  however,  Isaac  Pitman  had  tested  the 
halving  principle  and  decided  to  adopt  it.  He  wrote  the  Bible  in 
his  system  from  the  reading  of  his  brother  Henry,  and  in  this 
experiment  employed  the  half-length  device. 


TITLE    AND    COVER   OF    "  STENOGRAPHIC    SOUND-HAND 
PUBLISHED    IN    1837 


FIRST  PUBLICATION  41 

front  of  which  was  a  label  bearing  the  only  title 
the  treatise  possessed. 

The  production  of  this  small  work  appears  to 
have  been  a  dual  effort  on  the  part  of  author  and 
publisher.  The  plates  were  printed  at  the  estab- 
lishment of  Bedford,  a  Bristol  lithographer. 
They  were  executed  under  the  personal  supervision 
of  the  author — a  precaution  absolutely  necessary 
to  ensure  the  accuracy  of  the  characters — and  this 
part  of  the  work  is  from  a  technical  point  of  view 
of  considerable  excellence.  The  letter-press  part 
was  printed  in  London,  by  the  firm  of  Stevens  and 
Pardon,  of  Bell  Yard,  and  was  no  doubt  arranged 
for  by  the  publisher.  The  edition  was  one  of  three 
thousand,  and  the  author  undertook  himself  to 
get  his  book  placed  in  covers  and  stitched.  The 
first  portion  of  the  edition  was  despatched  to 
Mr.  Bagster  from  Wotton  on  14th  November,  and 
on  the  following  day,  the  15th  November,  1837, 
"  Stenographic  Sound-Hand  "  was  published  in 
London.  In  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Bagster  on 
the  date  first  named,  Isaac  Pitman  communicated 
the  following  particulars  to  his  publisher  : 

"  I  have  sent,"  he  wrote/'  200 '  Stenographies '  for 
present  sale,  and  the  rest,  to  make  up  1,500,  will 
follow  by  wagon  in  about  a  week.  I  think  I  shall 
want  1,500  for  myself.  Please  let  me  know  in  a 
month  or  two  how  they  sell.  I  must  beg  pardon 
for  the  manner  of  sewing  in  this  200.  The  next 
will  be  dark  coloured  thread,  and  done  properly. 
Also  the  labels  will  be  more  nearly  in  the  centre. 
The  stitching  was  done  by  the  elder  boys  in  my 


42  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

school,  who  have  learned  the  system.  They  are 
quite  delighted  to  spend  two  or  three  days  in  this 
sort  of  half  play.  Since  this  first  essay  we  have 
had  a  lesson  on  the  subject  from  a  stationer/ ' 

Before  its  publication,  the  new  system  of  short- 
hand had  been  extensively  used  by  its  inventor. 
In  Isaac  Pitman's  letter  book  (previously  kept  in 
Taylor's  system)  he  made  the  first  entry  in  his  own 
phonographic  method  on  the  7th  September,  1837, 
all  subsequent  entries  being  recorded  in  it.  His 
elder  brother  Jacob  (who  left  London  for  South 
Australia  in  the  month  in  which  "  Stenographic 
Sound-Hand  "  was  published),  took  100  copies 
from  Bagster's  with  him  to  Adelaide,  and  made 
himself  proficient  in  the  system.  Joseph  Pitman 
was  presented  with  a  copy  on  16th  November, 
"  with  the  author's  affectionate  respects,"  and 
soon  after  became  a  skilful  writer  of  the  method. 
Benn  and  Henry  at  Wotton  had  watched  every 
step  of  their  elder  brother's  inventive  efforts,  and 
had  learned  "  Sound-Hand  "  while  it  was  still  in 
the  manuscript.  "  Before  the  system  was  suffi- 
ciently developed  to  warrant  its  publication," 
writes  Benn  Pitman,  "  my  brother  Isaac  and  I 
prepared  a  set  of  cards,  containing  the  alphabet, 
exercises,  and  reading  practice,  from  which  I 
taught  a  class  of  more  than  twenty  boys  in  the 
school.  I  was  then  only  between  fourteen  and 
fifteen  years  of  age,  but  my  brother  manifested  full 
confidence  in  my  acquaintance  with  the  system, 
for  he  sent  me  to  Bristol,  then  a  full  day's  journey 


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IMPROVEMENTS  43 

from  Wotton-under-Edge,  to  superintend  the 
correction  of  the  plates  that  accompanied  the  first 
edition  of  Isaac  Pitman's  c  Phonetic  Shorthand/  " 
Not  long  after  its  appearance,  Samuel  Pitman, 
father  of  the  inventor,  who  was  then  in  his  fiftieth 
year,  learned  the  system  and,  after  a  few  days' 
practice,  wrote  a  letter  in  its  characters.  Isaac's 
brothers  and  sisters  all  acquired  the  art. 

The  Pitmanic  system  was  introduced  to  the 
world  quietly  and  without  advertisement.  As  far 
as  can  be  discovered  its  author  engaged  in  no 
special  efforts  to  make  it  known.  He  was,  indeed, 
far  more  concerned  in  effecting  improvements  in 
his  work  for  the  contemplated  second  edition.  In 
association  with  the  statement  of  Benn  Pitman 
quoted  above,  it  is  curious  to  note  that  Isaac 
Pitman  in  its  pages  speaks  of  his  first  work  as 
"  this  card "  which,  he  adds,  "  contains  the 
principles  and  is  thrown  out  as  a  feeler"  For  a 
little  over  eighteen  months  after  the  publication  of 
"  Stenographic  Sound-Hand "  he  continued  to 
reside  at  Wotton,  and  at  the  close  of  this  period 
the  first  edition  of  his  system  was  almost 
exhausted.  As  has  been  more  than  once  pointed 
out,  the  sale  of  "  Stenographic  Sound-Hand  "  was 
without  doubt  greatly  promoted  by  the  fact  that 
the  book  was  issued  by  the  eminent  Bible  publisher 
of  Paternoster  Row,  whose  name  was  a  guaranty 
that  the  work  which  bore  it  was  of  a  meritorious 
kind,  and  not  of  a  "  catchpenny  "  nature. 


V 

SETTLEMENT    IN    BATH    AND    PUBLICATION    OF 
"  PHONOGRAPHY  " 

1839-1840 

On  the  30th  June,  1839,  Isaac  Pitman  took  up 
his  residence  at  No.  5  Nelson  Place,  Bath,  and  in 
this  Western  city  he  made  his  home  for  the  rest 
of  his  life.  Several  reasons  appear  to  have  influ- 
enced him  in  his  settlement  at  Bath  on  leaving 
Wotton-under-Edge.  He  was  not  insensible  to 
the  beauties  which  Nature  and  Art  have  lavishly 
bestowed  on  the  "  Queen  of  the  West,"  for  not 
long  after  he  wrote  :  "Of  the  many  beautiful 
cities  in  this  fair  country,  Bath  is  unquestionably 
the  most  beautiful/'  and  he  proceeded  to  describe 
its  characteristic  features  in  eloquent  terms  of 
appreciation.  He  probably  also  regarded  Bath 
as  a  suitable  place  for  the  establishment  of  a 
private  school.  Yet  another,  and  without  doubt 
an  important  consideration,  was  the  fact  that 
there  had  been  founded  in  Bath  ten  years  before 
a  society  of  receivers  of  the  doctrines  of  Sweden- 
borg,  which  under  the  name  of  the  New  Church 
has  had  a  continuous  existence  down  to  the  present 
day.  At  this  period  the  Church  worshipped  in  a 
room  in  Chandos  Buildings,  and  Isaac  Pitman  and 
his  wife  were  admitted  into  membership  soon 
after  they  settled  in  the  city.    In  this  congregation, 

44 


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NELSON   PLACE,   BATH  45 

as  the  years  passed,  the  Inventor  of  Phono- 
graphy made  lifelong  friends,  some  of  whom 
became  his  valued  assistants  in  enterprises  which 
have  yet  to  be  described  in  these  pages.  Mr. 
James  Keene,  who  was  the  New  Church  minister 
(unpaid)  at  that  time  and  for  many  succeeding 
years,  was  also  the  editor  of  the  oldest  newspaper 
in  the  city,  Keene' s  Bath  Journal,  established  in 
1742,  of  which  the  brothers  John  and  James  Keene 
were  the  joint  proprietors. 

In  one  of  his  early  periodicals  Isaac  Pitman 
gave  an  illustrated  account  of  his  first  Bath 
residence  at  Nelson  Place.  He  described  it  as 
situated  in  the  western  part  of  Bath,  and  as, 
together  with  Norfolk  Crescent  and  the  river 
Avon  (which  flowed  by),  enclosing  a  triangular 
lawn  bordered  with  trees.  The  view  from  his 
windows  looking  south  over  this  lawn,  and  taking 
in  verdant  fields  gradually  rising  to  Combe  Down, 
is  described  in  appreciative  language  and  pro- 
nounced "  very  fine."  But  since  the  time  when 
this  description  was  penned,  the  "  verdant  fields  " 
have  been  largely  obscured  from  view  by  the 
growth  of  suburban  Bath.  At  Nelson  Place  he 
opened  a  "  school  for  young  gentlemen/'  and  one 
of  the  privileges  of  the  boarders,  which  he  men- 
tions in  the  circular  he  issued,  is  that  of  "  walking 
in  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  house/ '  The  usual 
subjects  were  taught  in  his  school,  with,  in 
addition,  the  author's  system  of  "  writing  by 
sound." 


46  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

During  the  summer  of  1839 — probably  in  the 
Midsummer  school  holidays  of  three  weeks — Isaac 
Pitman  visited  his  friend  and  publisher,  Mr. 
Samuel  Bagster,  at  the  latter's  beautiful  residence 
at  Old  Windsor.  One  evening  during  his  stay 
with  him  they  talked  about  the  issue  of  a  second 
edition  of  the  shorthand  treatise,  the  first  having 
been  by  this  time  nearly  exhausted.  "  We  both 
wished/'  writes  Isaac  Pitman,  "  to  give  it  a  shorter 
title  than  the  lumbering  one  by  which  the  first 
edition  was  known — •  Stenographic  Sound-Hand/ 
I  remarked  that  a  compound  of  two  Greek  words, 
(jxovrj^  sound  or  voice,  and  ypacfrv,  writing,  com- 
bined as  '  Phonography  '  accurately  described  the 
new  method  of  writing,  but  the  word  was  not  in 
existence  in  English.  So  I  thought  at  the  time. 
1  That  must  be  the  title/  said  Mr.  Bagster,  '  it  is  a 
new  name  for  a  new  thing.'  "  Having  obtained 
this  emphatic  approval  of  his  proposed  new  title, 
Isaac  Pitman  on  the  7th  of  September,  1839, 
issued  a  crown  folio  prospectus,  which  was  printed 
by  the  Messrs.  Keene,  announcing  that  the  second 
edition  with  the  title  "  Phonography,  or  Writing 
by  Sound,  being  also  a  New  and  Improved  System 
of  Short  Hand/'  was  in  preparation.  There  was 
not  the  novelty  about  the  word  "  Phonography  '■ 
which  Isaac  Pitman  and  Mr.  Bagster  supposed 
when  they  discussed  the  matter  at  Old  Windsor. 
In  1701  a  certain  John  Jones,  M.D.,  published  a 
work  entitled  "  Practical  Phonography/'  which 
was  designed  to  assist  persons  to  read  and  spell 


DEVELOPMENTS  47 

the  ordinary  longhand.  But  in  1839  Isaac  Pitman 
had  very  little,  if  any,  acquaintance  with  the  works 
of  any  other  author  except  Walker  in  the  field  of 
phonetic  science,  though  as  regarded  the  steno- 
graphic art  he  had  a  fairly  representative  collection 

of  the  works  of  older  and  contemporary  authors. 

• 

Some  interesting  glimpses  of  the  development 
of  his  own  system  by  Isaac  Pitman  are  afforded 
in  the  prospectus  before  alluded  to,  in  which  we 
are  permitted,  as  it  were,  to  see  Phonography  "  in 
the  making/'  In  1839,  on  the  3rd  of  January, 
and  again  three  months  later,  we  find  corre- 
spondents writing  to  Isaac  Pitman  in  his  own 
system,  which  they  had  learned  from  "  Stenogra- 
phic Sound-Hand/ '  and  bearing  enthusiastic  testi- 
mony to  its  excellence.  To  these  communications 
there  is  a  foot-note  by  the  author,  who  says  that 
since  the  dates  of  his  correspondents'  letters  his 
system  has  been  "  touched  up  and  modified/'  and 
practised  extensively  for  the  sake  of  trial  almost 
every  day  (the  entire  Bible  had,  as  already  stated, 
been  transcribed  by  Isaac  Pitman  in  the  characters 
of  Sound-Hand).  Then  follows  this  significant 
passage  :  "In  the  beginning  of  May  about  thirty 
double  consonants  sprung  up  as  of  their  own 
accord,  from  principles  previously  acknowledged 
as  in  the  system  ;  nothing  was  deranged  by  this, 
but  they  fell  into  their  places,  like  the  keystone 
of  an  arch,  and  completed  the  whole."  We  are 
further  told  that  "  the  author  of  Phonography  is 
no  mere  theorist,  but  was  a  shorthand  writer  of 


^ 


48  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

extensive  practice  before  he  published/ '  He 
possessed,  he  says,  over  thirty  of  the  previously 
published  systems  of  shorthand  :  "  But  they  all 
fail  in  the  grand  principle  of  giving  a  mark  for 
every  sound,  and  never  using  it  for  any  other.' ' 

He  makes  announcement  in  the  same  prospectus 
of  what,  outside  his  own  school,  was  probably  the 
first  public  class  for  the  mastery  of  the  system. 
He  notifies  that  he  teaches  a  "  Phonographic,  or 
Shorthand  Class/ '  at  the  Mechanics'  Institute, 
No.  3  Bath  Street,  Bath,  every  Wednesday 
evening,  and  announces  that  after  school  hours 
he  attends  ladies  and  gentlemen  at  their  own 
residences  for  instruction  in  his  art,  while  for  those 
at  a  distance  postal  tuition  is  offered.  It  is  also 
announced  that  :  "  The  publication  of  Phono- 
graphy is  delayed  for  four  months,  that  it  may  be 
still  more  fully  proved,  and  receive  every  amend- 
ment it  is  capable  of  receiving  before  being 
engraven  in  enduring  steel." 

In  Isaac  Pitman's  second  prospectus  the  pub- 
lication of  "  Phonography  "  is  announced  as  a 
"  Companion  to  the  Penny  Post."  It  is  difficult 
in  the  present  day  to  realize  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  great  boon  of  penny  postage  was  greeted 
when  Rowland  Hill's  ideas  were  fully  carried  out, 
and  it  became  possible  to  send  a  letter  under  half 
an  ounce  in  weight  for  one  penny.  In  response 
to  a  Government  offer  of  a  prize  of  £200  for  a 
suggestion  for  the  best  method  of  collecting 
the  pence  for  prepaid    letters,  Isaac   Pitman   in 


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THE   PENNY   POST  49 

September,  1839,  submitted  to  the  Lords  of  the 
Treasury  a  proposal  for  penny  postage  stamps, 
printed  from  engraved  plates  in  sheets  containing 
240,  which  could  be  used  for  affixing  to  letters,  and 
as  remittances  for  small  amounts.    Benn  Pitmap. 
says  that  "  he  further  recommended — and  this  was 
the  unlucky  stroke  of  economy  that  proved  his 
undoing — that  the  stamps  be  used  for  sealing  the 
letter  or  envelope.     The  inconvenience  of  cancel- 
ling the  stamp,  when  affixed  at  the  back  of  the 
letter,  gave  the  much  coveted  prize  to  another 
competitor,  who  repeated  Isaac's  idea,  but  with 
the  suggestion  that  the  stamps  be  affixed  on  the 
face  of  the  letter,  at  the  upper  right-hand  corner, 
as  is  the  convenient  practice  of  to-day.' '     When 
it  is  remembered  that  the  average  cost  of  a  letter 
sent  by  post  under  the  old  arrangement  was  9Jd. 
for  a  single  sheet  of  paper,  no  enclosure  of  any 
kind  being  permitted,  it  will  be  seen  how  far- 
reaching  was  the  reform  brought  about  by  the 
new  regulations,  which  permitted  anything  in  the 
nature  of  written  or  printed  matter  to  be  sent 
through  the  inland  post  at  the  rate  of  a  penny 
per  half-ounce,  and  how  beneficial  the  concession 
was  to  Phonography  and  to  other  forms  of  popular 
instruction  in  which  written  communications  play 
an  important  part. 

The  work  of  designing  the  "  Penny  Plate " 
involved  considerable  ingenuity  and  labour.  In 
his  early  life  Isaac  Pitman  had  a  great  fondness 
for  minute  writing,  but  the  "  Penny  Plate  "  far 

4—(2284) 


50  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

surpassed  his  pen  and  ink  efforts  in  this  direction, 
as  will  be  seen.  His  original  design  for  this 
conspectus  of  his  system  was  written  with  extreme 
neatness  within  a  ruled  space  9  in.  by  11  in.  in 
his  letter  book  and  journal,  and  this  design  was 
produced  very  early  in  the  year  1839.  The  head- 
ing is  as  follows  :  "  Phonography,  or  Writing  by 
Sound,  being  a  New  and  Improved  System  of 
Shorthand."  The  space  is  divided  into  four 
quarters.  In  the  top  left-hand  quarter  is  the 
table  of  "  Vowels,"  "  Long  "  and  "  Short,"  and 
"  Double  Vowels,"  in  three  parallel  columns,  and 
underneath  the  table  of  "  Consonants "  in  the 
p,  b  ;  t,  d  ;  ch,  /,  order,  thus  arranged  for  the  first 
time  in  connection  with  English  shorthand.  In 
the  bottom  left-hand  quarter  are  the  "  Double 
Consonants  "  of  the  pi,  pr,  order,  etc.,  each  char- 
acter being  designed  as  the  logogram  for  represent- 
ing several  more  or  less  common  words.  In  the 
top  right-hand  quarter  is  a  a  Joining  Table  of 
Consonants  "  ;  a  table  illustrative  of  the  vowel 
places,  and  the  phonographic  design  which  appears 
at  the  top  of  the  "  Penny  Plate."  The  bottom 
right-hand  quarter  consists  of  two  columns,  one 
containing  Psalm  I,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the 
Lord's  Invitation,  in  small  shorthand  characters, 
and  the  other  "  Rules  for  Writing  "  in  very  small 
longhand. 

Although  it  is  closely  written,  there  is  consider- 
ably less  matter  in  this  manuscript  presentation 
of  the  second  edition  of  his  system  than  Isaac 


THE   PENNY   PLATE  51 

Pitman  a  few  months  later  managed  to  pack  into 
a  space  of  6J  in.  by  8  in.  on  the  "  Penny  Plate/ ' 
This  steel  plate  was  engraved  by  S.  J.  Lander,  of 
High  Street,  Bristol,  and  in  order  to  secure 
accuracy  Isaac  Pitman  walked  to  and  fro  io 
Bristol — a  city  distant  eleven  miles  from  Bath, 
and  as  yet  unconnected  with  it  by  railway — in 
order  to  watch  the  engraver  at  work,  a  precaution 
absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  ensure  accuracy. 
Many  of  the  characters  in  this  closely  packed  plate 
are  so  microscopical  as  to  require  a  magnifying 
glass  to  read  them.  The  improvements  in  the 
system  are,  however,  fairly  obvious  to  the  initiated. 
The  table  of  consonants  is  arranged  in  the  order 
indicated  above,  which  was  for  the  future  adopted 
in  the  author's  works,  and  initial  hooks  to  the 
consonant  stems  are  systematically  introduced  to 
represent  the  additions  oil  or  r  respectively.  The 
halving  of  consonant  strokes  to  indicate  the  addi- 
tion of  t  or  d  is  first  introduced.  "  The  beautiful 
discovery  of  the  sets  of  double  vowels,  ye,  ya, 
yah  ;  we,  wa,  wah,"  also  makes  its  first  appearance 
in  the  system.  It  is  stated  on  the  "  Penny 
Plate  "  that  it  was  "  invented  and  drawn  by  Isaac 
Pitman,"  and  it  also  bears  the  name  of  his 
London  publisher. 

This  production  formed  the  Second  Edition  of 
the  system  and  was  published  on  the  day  Penny 
Postage  was  introduced,  namely,  the  10th  January, 
1840.  A  copy  of  the  plate  came  into  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Reed,  then  a  thirteen  years  old  schoolboy 


52  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

at  Bristol.  "  I  found  it,"  he  says,  u  too  hard 
a  nut  to  crack.  The  system  was  presented  in  so 
condensed  a  form,  and  with  so  few  explanations, 
that  I  laid  it  aside  as  transcending  my  powers  of 
comprehension.' '  The  majority  of  people,  we 
believe,  concur  in  Mr.  Reed's  opinion,  and  the 
prospect  of  Phonography  achieving  its  future 
triumphs  would  have  been  meagre  indeed  had  the 
system  only  been  presented  to  the  public  in  what 
its  author  termed  a  "  minutely  engraved  plate." 
But  the  cheerful  faith  of  Isaac  Pitman's  publisher 
in  the  new  system  must  be  recorded  here.  At 
this  time  Mr.  Samuel  Bagster  expressed  his 
appreciation  of  Phonography  in  the  following 
verse — 

Artists  and  scribes  no  more  delight, 

Their  arts  imperfect  found, 
Daguerre  now  draws  by  rays  of  Light, 

And  Pitman  writes  by  Sound. 


V.  T  (MatSi  Rev.2/Jas  additional  exercises  (f  LONDON '  S.  Bagster,  IS,  Paternoster  Row.  IS46 


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law  ^  allow  .^  When  either  letter  is 
joined  to  the  loop  s  only  write  it 
downwards. as  issues^  lace  £  sale  T 
\9.Maker and shn  with  a  tick  when 
either  letter  stands  alone  osor/rye  S 
ocean y  i when  it  is  succeeded  by  the 
loop  s  only, as  arise  s~a\rs  ?"  oceans  f 

20.  The  letters  chn  &  rch  must  never 
stand  alone,  /7or  w/VA  Me  loop  s 
only  added,     because  fff  sht  &  rl 

21.  fac^  letter  in  the,  Alphabet  stands 
for  the  words  put  to  it.  (except  the 
examples  in  short  hand).  &  all  others 
of  the  same  sound ,  as  "  I  and  eye,&c 
for  other  words  write  all  the  consonant 
that  sound. (Joining  them  together,)  k 
theprincipal  vowels,  as  appeared    \ 

22.  S  may  be  added  to  an  Alphabetical 
word  without  taking  off  the  pen. 
as  words  J  thoughts  C  hands  o 
thinks  "J  Offier/etters  must  be  sepa- 
rated.as  established  ),  distinction^ 
23.7he  horizontal^  half  sized  const' 
(km.  n die),  when  representing  words, 
stand  at  the  to  p  of  the  line  for  words 
contain,3  first  place  vowe/s,  and  at 
the  bottom  for  words  cont9  second  k 
third  place  vowels.  In  the  Alphabet, 
these  words  are  divided  by  a  coion. 

24.  /Ill  middle  place  vowe/sto.wa.,  kc) 
when  standing  a\ont.go  at  the  bottom 
of  the  line,  as    away  <  yet.,  one  > 

25.  Compound  words  must  be  redu- 
ced to  their  primitives,  and  written 
near  together  as  within c  without  ci  j 
altogether" somewhatr-.' yourselves--. 


26  Disjoin  Prefixes  &  Affixes,  as 
nterest'f  Phonography 'vr  or  \ — 

For  a  p\ura\-affix  add '  s,  as  subscrip- 
tions^ tenements  i-"*  earldoms     <A 

27  Com  k  con  are  written  by  a  light 
dot  before. the  next  cons.r<w  comply 
^  consider'1  &accom  by  a  hea\  y  dot". 
as  accommodate  j'  accomplished  \; 

28  For  \n^piifo'  small  dot  after 
the  last  consTtf-r  star\\n^fhcp/ural 
intfs/jrtf  large  dot. as  workings  — =• 
23  If  a  word  reaches  too  tow  nr 
does  not  yom  .well,  lake  off  the  pen, 
as  constituted  [ j  chargeable     / 

30  Choose  the  best  manner  of  writing 
a  word. as  pa  rt  1  not)  a  rmor/~^not  .«—>•' 

31  Generally  omit  h,  for  the  sake 
of  brevity,  as   comprehensi\  ^    j^ 

32  A \\rst place  vowel,  stand/ nq  at 
the  begi  n  n  i  n  6  of  a  word,  should  be 
written  in  point  of  time,  before  the  const 
to  which  if  is  placed,  as  peaceable^ 

33  FICURLS.  Write  the  digits  thus. 
0.     t,    2.   3.    4.    S.    6.     7.    &    9. 

(       ,     s    C     V.  V.    °>    7      I    ^ 
fut  all  other     numbers    in    short- 
hand words,  as  20  J' "^ S°  orjom 
the  digits, placing  a   line    under, 
as  3.96  L?  666\  1840  \  6862  I 

34  STOPS.  Confrna '  Semicolon  : 
Colon"  Period  ..or  leave  T  2  4  &1  inch 
spaces.  Hyphen...  Irony  f  Fxcla ma- 
il on\\)&  all  other  stops  k  marks 
as  usual  Italic  .See  Psalm  133. 
Accent  decent  j!  noble  v\denyjL- 
tar'ry  IX present^ present  ^  Inflec- 
tions nst'faUScjIs  itso  or  so?*'o'/y 

35  Reader  Practise  S  Persevere  A  \j°! 


v:so. 

cum, 

'sttot. 

ition, 

hose 

?ei 

ip. 

jj 

\  \  re, 

art. 


/so, 
lly, 

Id. 


M 
M 
Jzh 

/,r 

Jm 
Jn 


,rp 

aft 

«rd 

atdl 

„/rt 


/ 


(JkeRuUIQ) 


although. 

We/sh   <C~ 
^{co/or  T 

a /ready. 

ALMIGHTY 

fallen  \j 
/are.  or, 
our.   recon, 
sharps   ^ 

suburbs^, 
he -art,  short, 

Ward,  heard. 

church/accord^ 

charges/ 

work.  \borg)H 

bunrj,  Sweden 


*f 

^ 

arv 

^ 

orth 

') 

arth 

) 

ofsb 

J 

arzh 

J 

„r/ 

</ 

arm 

^■s 

,rn 

^J 

M 

— 

,m/> 

^ 

9    .mt 

i 

./W 

ml 

m.r 

^s 

scarf  ^~'\ 

preserve*^ 

earth,  forth, 

worthy, 

marsh  'D 
'+  \cctr/ed—~- 

real    rule, 
form^oncerri 

morning: 
m'jppme.'may. 
am.  multi.ment 

important, 

meet  might, 
Q-mid-stmod-e. 

[mercy. 
Mrmerc:more 


m 

.nt 

jfd 

tnch 
.ry 

n,l 
nr 

:NG 

.ngg 
hi 


on,  any  no. 
wwnncOn  unco™ 
want,  i  file  •  went 
unto,  irrtfS  ante 
hand  under 
frePctT)in<i  i5 

change/ 
journal,/, 
norhenor-ab/e 
thing.  Engl???,. 

language. 

distinct, 
think:  thank. 
single:angery~ 
he.  htm  had. 
here  [hood 


SUMMARYoftheS/NCLPCOflS:sC?Mutesc9Semwowtds,  2L/guids,  Z/Vasa/s.l Aspirate,. 
Fhnodnce  each  of  the  bi  TREBLE  CONSONANTS  ofonceas^psd  \,.lpt  Jarted  -sirvd,& 
Tor  6  fthepasttensejis  added  to  a  hooked  letter  by  making  it  half  length,  as 
tl ftld f titled ^rv^rvd^deservedJ^  fhesefreb/eCons*representfhe  pasttenses of 
the  verbs  placed totheDoub/eConsts from  which  they  are  derived  as  earned  c- 
tVote:  spr^represenfs  spmt-ual,  strl  strong, strength;  skro—  scri pt u r | 
THE  LORD'S  INVITATION.       Matthew//.   28  to  30.    Written   in   full. 

_^-s  ,q  <~^  '■  r  M  (  r\  <  /  "x    ft  v  r    r~v  .   A 

29  L    *">_»_    ^.     .  :   (    'G   V  ^  :  V/     v     _..    ^__  •  (     KC   ^    >| 
<   "  J      \      A  -c,  7    r.  3,0  W   ^  ^  } ■    1  ' .(   ^  V^  )    f 

ical^ny  Language  may  be  written  in  Phonogy,with  a  tnflinq  difference  in  the  sound  of  some  letters, 
^french  I  ^y  f  ^7   L-  I  V   ll^-L  -<^w_^  T  ~ 


V, 


A 


/erses  from   the  B/b/e,  leaving  spaces    between    the    lines  for  f he  corrections  .* 


-  ,.-  I  Drown  by  I.  Pitman.  J. Ale/son  Place..  BATH.      PRICE   ONE   PENNY.    Mounted  on  Can  vass  &  bound  in  Cloth,  lehered.with  two  chapters  from  the  N.  T  (MatSi  Rev.2/Jas  additional  exercises  I?  LONDON    S  Boaster.  IS,  Paternoster  Row  /d40 


: 

i  sound. at  pique  /pah/  ~\ 

lTset/&grf  sat/iijiJVi1 

sidht^y/rjT     Fore  writtV.at  cough'     V_ 
wS.«scityT"o/"Sh.  as  negoi  " 

;  '      \  .or  bias  exist 

3':as  no\touS~^ibr  q  unfa  k 
one  of  the  double  rr/rebi 

Ofl  ■unir  this  letter  /die  w  ho 

■  c  ospiralejos  oueen'      'quart 
e  1  w  is  o  when  commencing  a 

syllable,  in  which  cose  rhiy  never  occur 
except  m  combination  w  id  anoMer  vowel. 
A  mil  be  found  under  the  doubleitreble 
i^iie/ro-r  Yorkshire  ^-V  west?  witV"^- 
2.  fspecio/lv  observe  the  proper  sound 
of  the  short  vowels,  every  one  of  which 
in  the  common  hand  'is  out  ot place- 
thus,  near  I  knit"  agc/'edge/ 
psalm  rf-N.  Sam  (Samoel)<— vrawK 
rotf^l  tone  t- tun  t_-pool  V*"  pullV^ 
3-  Pronounce  the  vowels  as  they 
sound  in  the  alphabetical  words 
and  examples  placed  to  them.  Fho- 
nounce  every  consonant  at  once  by 
means  of  the  small  vowel  put  tg  if 
Leorn  by  heart  the  natural  order  of 
the  single  vowels  &  single  consonants 
as  be/on.  New  names  art  given  to  some 

■  all  cons?  to  express  their 
true  sound,  or  to  keep  them  in  unisbn 
4-  Mark  the    difference     between 

sp&  spr,  sf&  str,  schA  schr,  sk  &  skn 

<  <,  r   i  y  /  ^_  .- 

at  the  commencement.ti/Ww'xo/tt' 
ps&  rps,  fs&r+s.  chs&rchs.    ks&rks 

s.  \  l   J  /    y    _-  — . 

at  the  conclusion^/ words.  See  Joining  Tabic 


5.  hool  ma 

.      .  /     Sp|         51 ;  i    : 

ktS-.rf'C.  spr°N  is  instead  of\r\s<lforiit 

6.  Vowels  before  ronsononts  jre  placed  to 
tlie  left  o/pcpei'dicularA  leaning  strvies. 
as  eat'l  weifihrj  wet 'I  eyes")ape\owl 
/z\r  fond  above  horizontal  strokes 
as  eagers — aim^sAnne^ 

7.  Vowels  after  cons.!' go  to  the  right, 
or  u  n  d  er.  as  J  oy/*toe  h  h  igrlN  0  ov. — 
O.  The  vowelS' places  are  counted 
from  the  be(5i  n  n  i  n  g  of  the  consist  d 
their  derivatives  take  the  first  place, 
os  she-V^daw  T  plv 

#->roya\jf  a  o.  ^  M«//r  derivatives 
second  /'/aci;  ?r  middle  <?/ 
//^e  cons' as  a  i  I A  o  a  H  u  pperXache_=_ 
ozry  and  aoJ  Me/V  derivatives  ho  vt 
the. th ird  /vi?c  ■  o  -  end  <?j  Pa N.  I  oo  <" 

due  I.  nowv^i      housed,     youth  .( 

9.  When  3.04O  oVe  ^*//  to  cons'? 
they  may  poml  any  «ay,  when 
they  stand  alone  for  weds  they 
always  leanlo  the  i  lghf.<7.s  whom  n 

10.  A    vowel    between"  two  cons!? 
(&  neither  of  them  rjit ■  '     | 
placed  thus     r.  fir  si  oi  sei  oi 

up *n/ after  th<  :  wteamL 

cord'-]  Tweedl''"tle  X  ved't  net^l 
boat^  A  third'. 

the  last  cons.'o.fTackA-'  loOTi£~xluke 
L»    man -^_;- mouthy  shaft  „y 

11.  The  loopi  dol  s  lolleno  vowe/.A. 
when  a  vowel is  put  close  to  one.  it 
belongs  to  the  cons!  connected  with 
if.as  pass\<J  secure  i_^2 sickle  s 

12.  /r  two  vowels  come  between  Uvo 
cons" give   one  to  eq~ch.  os  poe+^j 


7 
r^« 


r  always  a  double 
r  It  cons.'..)  to  a 
lerter  in  the  s  a  m  e  d  i- 
rection,  buttt- 
single  cons"  fo 
take  off  the  pen  osfdd 
orK..  not^--  steam 
ted  J 
and 

beforer.is  curved  thus  < 
as  nation  ^J~  portion 
\r  m is s  lona rv  <~srf 


1 3".  When    two    vowels 

wend  a  went 

ll/he  Otht  ■ 

tonceos  lots  'I.  oasis 

Isaiah' V  v 

SA.A/everjoin  a  short 

straight  letter  (which   r_ 


v_;  or  v  .  rial  v_  si 

:d'C-.^f/7(7/[starte 
15.  Sri  n  after  nir. 


rv 


tz 


-c 


£/ "i" C 


TH 


v\ 


.':, 


PHONOGRAPHY, 

OR 

WRITING   by  SOUND, 

being  also  A  New&  Natural 
5  YS  TEM 

SHORT  HAND, 

..r/*/W«/  ty  SJ.Lo*4tr.hql>S:B"r*l. 


t/it  stroke  s  in  these 
coses  only .    wht 

ontains  only  sha  V-  wel, 
os  ves)sigh)  when  s  is 
'  repeated  as  '  sase,  assi- 
zes I  also  whir 
begins  n 
owed  by  s.«n   I 
ends  withavi'vii  i  \ 


ct 


TXZ 


yy. 


zz 


%yy 


i  ■ 


VlVIVjV 


rvr^a 


4> 


:^j 


PrDI 


%^ 


~A 


ded  bys.as  tendfnc>) 
.('  whenever  you  wont 
topufavov<e\.to  >.  as 
sumptuous^. 
\7.dll ruls  rtlatny  'Mo 
the  sharp   con 
p.  t.ch,  k.f.  li 
are  also  apps 
their  correspond1'  tats, 
b.  d,  j,  g.  v  tb .  L   zh 


'.'„,/..'.;  !,', 


I'.- 


I    » 


I 


«».rji:i 


\r-\r 


v-  yvlv 


m 


m 


\%.When  %hor\  stands  alone,  count  the 
vowels' places  downwards,  as  shoe  J 
law  fallow .C  When  either  letter  is 
joined  to  the  loop  s  only  write  it 
downwards. as  issues^  lace  f  sale  'f* 
I9./*/i7  ke\  and  slin  with  a  tick  when 
either  letter  stands  alone  osoc/  rye  if 
oceans /  when  it  is  succeeded  bv  the 
loop  s  only. as  arise  </"airs  f  oceans  ?■ 

20.  The  letters-  chn  %,  rch  must  never 
Stand  alone,  nor  with  the  loop  S 
only  added     because  of ^sht  k  rl 

21.  Each  letter  in  the  Alphabet  stands 
for  the  words  put  to  it  /except  the 
ex.arhples  in  short  hand),  b  all  others 
of  the  same  sound,  as  "  1  and  eye,&c 
fo  r  ether  words  write  all  the  consonant 
that  sound. (Joining  them  together.)  k 
the  principal  vowels,  as  appeared    \ 

22.  S  may  be  added  to  an  /l/phabelicai 
word  without  to  king  off  the  pen. 
os  words  J  thoughts  C  hands  o 
thinks  Ofherlctterj  must  be  sepo- 
ratedas  established  ),  distinction^ 
23.lhe  horizontal^  half  sized  cons*? 
(k.m.nd.&c).  when  representing  words, 
stand  ot  the  to  p  of  the  line  '■ 
contain?  first  place  vowe/s.  and  at 
the  bottom  for  words  cont?  second  & 
Th i r ^d place  vowels.  In  the  Alphabet, 
these  words  are  divided  by  a  colon. 

24.  All  middle^  lace  vowel: 

when  standing  a\c,r\t,go  althe  bottom 
of  the  line,  as   away  <  yet.  one  . 

25.  Compound  words  must  be  redu- 
ced to  their  primitives,  and  written 
near  together  as  within'  without  cl 
altodertier" somewhat^'  yourselves.*! 


26  Disjoin  Prefixes  X  Affixes  u 
interest'f  Phonograp1  —  — 
for  a  p\ora\-off/x  add 's,  as  subscnp 
tionsXj  tenements   ^earldoms     A 

27  Corn  icon  are  written  by  a  light 
dot  before. the  i.ornplv 
''consider'1  Aaccore  byo  hea 

-nmodale  j- accomplished    \j 

28  for  \r\^puto'  small  dot  after 
the  last  consT<7x  stai-tind  \rhtplurol 
in 6s  is  a  larjje  dot. as  workings  — >. 

29  If  a  word  reaches  too  Tow.  or 
does  not  join  pell,  take  off  the  pen 
as  constituted  J  J  charges  I-  c     /( 

30  Choose  the  best  manner        - 

a  word. as  part  )  not  ^  a rmor/~       -  . 

31  Generally  ornir  h.   for   rh. 

of  brevity,  as   compreher-  ^ 

32  Af\rs\ place  vowel  standing  at 
the  beginning  of  a  word  should  be 
written  in  point  of  time,  before  the  cons! 
to  which  it  is  placed  as  peaceable  \ 

33  FICURLS.  Write  the  digits  thus. 
0.    /,    2.  3.    4.   cS.    6.     7,    c9.    9 

c       ,     .    C     V.  ^    o)     s      |    ^ 
fut  a/1  other    numbers    in    short- 
hand words,  as  20  ■)  4S^y or  join 
the  digi/s. placing  a   line    under, 
os  396  O  666X   I84C  {    6662  I 

34  STOPS.  Confrna  ''  Serntcolon  ~ 
Colon" Period.,  or  leave  T  t  J  i  I  inch 
spaces    Hyphen...  Irony  f  txclama- 

ail  other  stops  &  marks 
as  usual  Italic  See  Psalm  /33. 
Accent  decent  J.'  noble  v^denyJL- 
■  /n  flec- 
tions nsr-'fall'wls  itsd  or  t'f"  o ' /V-. 
iSPeader •  Practised  ftrsevene  .1      .     . 


12 


r 


r, 

a   ■ 

A     . 

d 

0   s 

0    ^ 

J, 

a  ' 

rl 

0    v 

0    - 

,Vi 


JBffl_. 


m 


¥* 


MILL 


ML 


¥A 


WA 


A  d 


VOWLLS 

the,      see. 

say.  mate,  "1 

a.    Bath,  ^> 

all.  awe,  ought, 

0,     note.^\ 

to.     who-m, 

in.  it.  sin  i^- 

n?ef~~\  sent  <• 

and.   an  at 
of,       not 

nut^X  si/n<L±s 

put  sfiou/d-sf 
IS  The  underlined  letters 
indicate  the  sounds  of 
the  vowe/s.  Letters  mork- 
ed thus  *  are  foreign  I  Wl  1  \(r>ke) 
^provincial    sounds.  lM£mJ(bkb)  +  [wjne 

psalm  mo  ^_  .  <y^  cY'>     2  "^ 

°V  V  v  °>  *y  co^  '^r-  .  c  ° '' 

AV    3  v       '    °  _    '    ^>   •  ^f  .    « 


¥* 


j. 


?-<2 


32DOUBLEVOWE  LSfc,»*r  ™* '«.,  ti 


ye.    year-s 

Yates  -t      \WL 
^[yawl^y-  V|jM 

yjlwn    c_, 

yoke  _c 
(eo)   you-r-s 

*  (new,  lube  l^ 
yel;  ye'sTer- 
yjrdJs    [day, 

beyond, 
young  young-< 

*  Ister  ^ 
(U)  I.  by.  th'?' 

*  (pine  N_  * 


wq\' 
LM 


01 


OIL 


we.  between, 
a  way,  where 
*  [wo  IP  J—  > 
water  wall  f 
woe,  wove  K 
woo  woi>f\ 
wjlh,  wi/Jr 
well,    when. 

Thwack)  ( < 

was?  what, 

were      won. 

would '  -  sf. 

(at)  voice,  [how. 

(db)  thojj.  about 

:8TREBLEjv^lWELS  x«n,^ha,  ,rth.rt. 

wht     mi  \-\am  \»mj)4 


lilt  doll  {I'm  whet  n  b*/>n  Ih.  22  S I 
P. 


uUL 


(dab)  wound,  (did 

r  c  -o  _\° 
.  o  yi,<  '  y 


<A 


■  A  c  1  ^\  -  y~ '  n  !  2  )  f~  ' 
ZL  iiL\m~%*L^')'rS  'V 


PSAlM/J3\  a   _  . 
*c^>  \     I     (  /    '  )    \ 

THE  LORD'S  PRAY  Eft   Mafthew.6.9to/3.     Ornamental 


y  \/  j 


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u 


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1 


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Rl 

fir 
B. 

BJ 


U 

Tr 

t,n 
D.. 

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dn 

CH 
*hl 
chl 
ckr 
chn 

J, 
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(J 
/ 
J' 


up.  upon, 
wrapped/^ 
princtp/e. 
bvd/c/yl>orl,omj' 
Se-en,  but. 
before,  bility. 
'robbed  y 
uvbli^readth. 
re-tn  ember, 
out    time. 
/,'//,   /ttt/e. 
truth,  tra'ns, 
ten.  town, 
day.  do,ne, 
disooS";  dom. 

deii  ver-y 

dear  D.r 
down.  London, 
which.  \Cs) 
fetched  \ 

children. 

nature 
auesfton-rj 
dEsus,ger>eroi 
obliged  \ 
individual 
Jerusalem 
margm^> 


Jd 

K.I 
Kr 
kn 

.ad 

CJ 

C.r 


NCLEA96  DOUBLE  CONSONANTS,*^ 

Ke 


Jt 

Rt 


K. 

Rr\    *N 
£n 

Ve 

M 
W 

?r 

v.n 
IH 

M 

W.i 
IB. 

thA 

th 


king:  co"l 

object:  fStfect. 

calicalculat'n 

CriRIST/COrfy 

can  nor:  can. 
gtve-n:  gave, 
go.  together 

God:  good, 
g/or,fy  g/ad, 
great  graphs 
beginning: 

again  -  st, 
for  if  off  fori, 
after,  left  f^ 
full,  follow, 

from,  fre.- 
often.  (auent, 
have,  Iver, 

lo ved.  f^ 
evil,  volume, 
e-veiy.bdvanlf 
even:  heaven, 
thoughthath. 
Bethel    ^ 

through 
that  the? 
f<ered"t 
their  whether  ) 


S 


SH 

.shl 
sh.l 
SMi 
shn 

ZH 

.zha 
zhl 

zh,r 
z/i,n 

eL 
JP 

J 6 

.ft 
Jd 
Jch 
Jj 
.Ik 
V 
Jf 
J\ 

M 


t\us^US. 
) 


resolve  A. 

health. 


Jit 
M 

.'zh 

I 
Jm 

Jn 
S< 

IJeeP 
•rp 
.rb 
«rt 

,rch 


/ 

UlSj) 

\ 
\ 

J 

i 

y 
/ 


although. 

Welsh  y 

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m'J" 'me:  may. 
am  multi  ment 
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Note    spr^.represenfs  spiritual  strl  strong,  strength;  skr«— script  ur,_ 
THE  LORD'S  INVITATION       Matthew  II.   28  to  30.   Wtitten  in  full. 


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t  Cermat. 


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Any  Person  may  receive,  lessons  from  the  Author  by  posr  gratuitously,  fach  lesson  must  6*  enclosed in  a  paid /utter.  The  pup// can  write  about  a  dozen   rerses  from   the  Bib/e,  Moving  spaces    between    the     tints  tor  the  corn 


VI 

BEGINNING    OF    THE    PROPAGANDA   AND    "  THE 
PHONOGRAPHIC   JOURNAL  " 

1840-1842 

The  introduQtion  of  penny  postage  enabled  Isaac 
Pitman  to  conduct  through  the  post  an  active 
propaganda  on  behalf  of  the  art  he  had  invented. 
He  first  sought  to  interest  the  schoolmasters  of 
Somerset  and  Gloucestershire  by  sending  to  each 
a  copy  of  the  "Penny  Plate/'  with  the  request 
that  they  would  either  study  it  themselves  or  hand 
it  to  any  pupil  who  was  likely  to  take  an  interest 
in  the  art.  There  was  undoubted  novelty  in  the 
issue  of  a  system  of  shorthand  which  was  entirely 
comprised  on  a  steel  plate  of  moderate  dimensions, 
and  letters  to  the  inventor  which  have  been  pre- 
served show  that  in  the  early  months  of  1840  his 
heart  was  cheered  by  appreciative  communications 
from  many  quarters.  Then  the  statement  on  the 
plate  that  "  any  person  may  receive  lessons 
from  the  author  by  post  gratuitously/'  resulted 
in  numerous  inquiries. x  And  when  postage  stamps 
were  introduced  in^  connection  with  the  penny 
post   early   in   May,   1840,  Isaac  Pitman  issued 

The  earliest  impressions  bore  the  words,  "  Any  person  may- 
receive  lessons  from  the  Author  by  post  at  Is.  each  to  be  paid 
in  advance,  and  enclosed  in  a  paid  letter,"  but  in  two  or  three 
months'  time  the  plate  was  altered  by  substituting  the  above 
word.  .....  ...  .... 

53 


54  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

the  following  announcement :  "  The  Author 
will  also  feel  great  pleasure  in  correcting  gratuit- 
ously, any  shorthand  exercise  or  lesson  that  may 
be  forwarded  to  him.  After  the  student  has 
learned  the  shorthand  letters,  committed  to 
memory  the  words  which  they  represent,  and 
read  through  the  exercises,  he  may  write  a  portion 
of  Scripture,  and  forward  it  to  the  Author,  with  a 
postage  stamp  enclosed.  The  lesson  will  be  re- 
turned corrected,  with  observations  and  references 
to  the  rules  for  writing/ ' 

At  the  end  of  1840  Isaac  Pitman  with  timely 
sagacity  published  the  Third  Edition  of  his 
system,  in  the  form  of  a  demy  8vo  text-book 
with  printed  rules  and  explanations,  illustrated 
by  phonographic  characters  engraved  on  wood. 
Similar  matter  was  also  issued  as  a  quarto  sheet 
printed  on  both  sides.  For  the  first  time  in 
English  stenographic  treatises,  the  rules  for  writing 
the  system  were  illustrated  by  shorthand  char- 
acters printed  in  the  letter -press,  instead  of  by 
plates  entirely  apart  from  it,  a  singularly  incon- 
venient plan.  A  series  of  "  Exercises  "  in  phono- 
graphic reading  was  also  published  in  two  forms — 
either  bound  up  with  the  text-book  or  issued 
separately. 

In  the  three  weeks  vacations  of  his  school  at 
Christmas  and  Midsummer  respectively,  Isaac 
Pitman  travelled  and  lectured  in  connection  with 
his  system.  The  first  enterprise  of  this  nature  was 
arranged    for    the    Christmas    holiday    of    1840, 


FIRST  LECTURING  TOUR  55 

concerning  which  there  is  this  entry  in  his  letter 
book :  "  Left  home  to  lecture  on  Phonography,  23rd 
December/ '  His  return  is  noted  on  the  following 
15th  January,  1841.  This  expedition  was  planned 
on  a  considerable  scale.  Posters  and  leaflets  were 
arranged  for,  and  a  number  of  secretaries  of 
institutions  were  written  to  in  regard  to  places  of 
meeting  which  might  be  used  free  of  charge.  An 
itinerary  containing  the  names  of  thirty-five  towns 
was  drawn  up,  but  for  reasons  not  now  discover- 
able, a  more  limited  tour  seems  to  have  been 
actually  carried  out.  Isaac  Pitman  has  himself 
told  us  that  what  happened  was  that  he  started 
out  from  Bath  early  on  the  morning  of  23rd 
December,  and  walked  over  the  snow-covered  roads 
to  Stroud,  thirty  miles  distant,  carrying  in  his 
knapsack  a  supply  of  phonographic  literature 
weighing  151b.  He  gave  a  lecture  at  Stroud,  and 
on  the  following  day  walked  to  Oxford,  where  he 
visited  most  of  the  colleges,  left  copies  of  his 
"  Penny  Plate  "  and  other  literature,  proceeded 
through  High  Wycombe  and  other  towns  to 
London,  and  from  thence  returned  to  Bath. 

Manchester  was  also  visited  during  this  tour, 
and  the  art  introduced  to  the  inhabitants  in  a 
series  of  lectures.  Isaac  Pitman's  first  visit  to 
this  city,  in  which  in  subsequent  years  his  short- 
hand system  has  been  so  thoroughly  appreciated 
and  so  generally  taught,  has  been  rather  strangely 
overlooked.  But  the  Inventor  of  Phonography 
has    himself    preserved  a  complete   record  of   it 


56  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

in  the  form  of  a  letter  which  he  addressed  to  two 

Manchester  newspapers.     The  editors  declined  to 

insert  it,  and  its  author's  comment  on  this  conduct 

reveals  the  thoroughgoing  reforming  spirit  in  which 

he    had    entered    on    the    campaign.     "  Another 

instance/'  he  writes,  "  is  here  added  to  the  list 

of  persecutions  which  truth  has  had  to  endure 

from  the  prejudice  and  selfishness  of  men."     As 

this  is  Isaac   Pitman's  first   letter   to  the   Press 

concerning    his    system    it    is    important,    apart 

from  its  biographical  interest.     We  reproduce  it 

below : 

"  To  the  Editor. 

"  Sir, — At  the  commencement  of  the  present 
year  four  lectures  were  delivered  by  me  in  the 
town  of  Manchester  on  Phonography,  a  method 
of  writing  all  languages  by  means  of  signs  that 
express  sounds,  two  to  the  members  of  the 
Mechanics'  Institute,  Cooper  Street,  and  two  to 
the  members  of  the  Christian  Institute  in  the 
Town  Hall,  Grosvenor  Square.  They  were  well 
received  by  the  audiences,  and  the  exposition 
which  I  gave  of  this  new  science  called  forth 
repeated  plaudits.  At  the  close  of  the  last  lecture 
given  in  the  Town  Hall,  Grosvenor  Square,  on  the 
evening  of  Tuesday,  12th  January,  Mr.  P.  B. 
Templeton,  a  shorthand  writer  and  author,  and 
formerly  reporter  for  the  Manchester  Times,  made 
some  remarks  attempting  to  show  the  inutility  and 
even  the  impracticability  of  Phonography !  !  But 
he  could  not  persuade  the  audience  to  think  with 
him.  During  his  address  on  the  demerits  of 
Phonography  (!)  he  laid  down  five  points  with 
respect  to  the  science  : — 


A   CHALLENGE  57 

1.  That  no  more  could  be  done  by  the  phono- 
graphic alphabet  in  the  expression  of  sounds 
than  by  the  common  alphabet. 

2.  That  the  system  was  applicable  to  no  foreign 
language. 

3.  That  admitting  it  to  be  applicable  to  foreign 
languages,  it  was  of  no  value  in  the  absence 
of  a  knowledge  of  such  languages. 

4.  That  as  a  system  of  shorthand  it  was  utterly 
impracticable. 

5.  That,  if  at  all  practicable,  it  was  less  expedi- 
tious by  two-thirds  than  half-a-dozen  systems 
already  published. 

"  Immediately  after  Mr.  Templeton  had  brought 
forward  these  false  charges,  before  I  had  made 
any  reply,  he  gave  me  a  challenge  to  prove  the 
worth  of  Phonography  publicly,  proposing  that 
its  merits  should  be  discussed  in  any  large  room  in 
Manchester,  advertised  in  all  the  Manchester 
papers,  and  that  if  he  failed  to  establish  each  and 
all  of  the  five  propositions,  he  was  to  bear  the  whole 
expense  of  the  room  and  the  advertising,  and  in 
addition  would  either  be  bound  to  purchase  one 
thousand  copies  of  my  book,  or  to  pay  £20  to  the 
Manchester  Royal  Infirmary. 

"  I  answered  that  my  time  was  much  better 
employed  than  in  running  about  the  country  on 
so  foolish  an  errand,  that  I  was  so  constantly 
engaged  in  my  school  here  in  Bath,  that  I  could 
not  accept  the  challenge,  and  that  if  I  were  other- 
wise situated  I  would  not,  as  I  should  be  performing 
a  much  greater  service  to  society  by  teaching 
Phonography  than  in  trying  to  prove  to  Mr. 
Templeton  that  it  is  a  real  science  fit  for  the 
expression  of  any  language  and  is  a  system  of 
shorthand  shorter  than  any  other  system  extant. 


58  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

"  I  took  down  notes  of  the  five  charges  (in  the 
c  impracticable  '  system  of  Phonography  !)  as  they 
came  from  his  lips,  and  when  he  had  done  gave  an 
answer  to  them  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the 
audience.     My  reply  was  this  : — 

"  1.  That  it  is  true  the  common  alphabet  can 
express  in  a  certain  bungling  way  all  the  sounds 
that  Phonography  can.  But  it  is  by  the  expedient 
of  using  two  letters  to  express  one  simple  sound 
with  respect  to  both  vowels  and  consonants,  and 
that  in  no  less  than  ten  instances — the  names  of 
which  two  letters  it  must  also  be  remembered  have 
little  or  no  connection  with  the  sound  they  are 
made  to  represent.  Thus,  the  two  letters  a  u  are 
put  together  to  signify  the  simple  vowel  sound 
awe.  It  is  also  necessary  to  put  over  the  vowels 
the  marks  of  quantity,  a  horizontal  stroke  to 
signify  the  long  sound  and  a  curve  to  express  the 
short  sound.  In  addition  to  this,  in  the  common 
alphabet  the  vowels  and  consonants,  whether  single 
or  double,  are  all  placed  together  in  complete 
confusion,  whereas  in  Phonography  every  sound 
is  placed  in  its  true  position,  the  whole  forming  the 
nature  alphabet.  Every  simple  sound  is  expressed 
by  a  simple  mark,  and  every  double  and  treble 
sound  derived  from  it  is  expressed  by  a  mark 
derived  from  the  simple  mark  by  some  slight 
change  of  form. 

"  2.  That  Phonography  was  applicable  to  the 
writing  of  all  languages  proof  was  given  in  the 
published  '  Exercises  in  Phonography/  wherein 
the  100th  Psalm  was  written  in  French,  German, 
Italian,  Chinese,  and  Hebrew,  every  sound  being 
expressed  by  the  appropriate  phonographic  sign 
so  perfectly  that  the  professors  of  those  languages 
assured  me  there  was  no  mistake  whatever  in  the 


A   CRITIC  ANSWERED  59 

pronunciation.  Proof  of  this  fact  has  also  been 
given  in  Mr.  Templeton' s  hearing  by  the  writing 
of  German  and  Welsh  dictated  by  the  audience. 

"3.  It  was  not  professed  that  Phonography 
imparted  a  knowledge  of  languages  unknown 
before  !  It  merely  gave  a  means  of  expressing 
them  as  to  their  very  sounds  on  paper  by  the  same 
signs  that  are  used  to  write  English. 

"  4.  That  Phonography  was  '  utterly  imprac- 
ticable '  was  already  shown  to  the  meeting  to  be 
1  utterly '  false  by  my  having  written  with  chalk 
upon  the  blackboard  two  or  three  dozen  separate 
words  and  sentences  which  that  very  audience, 
whose  understanding  Mr.  Templeton  was  abusing, 
had  dictated.  The  practicability  of  Phonography 
was  also  shown  by  the  publication  of  a  collection 
of  '  Exercises  in  Phonography/  at  the  cost  of  a 
few  pence,  consisting  of  ten  octavo  pages  of 
extracts  from  Scripture,  engraved  in  a  bold  style 
of  phonographic  shorthand,  and  in  which  every 
word  was  written  correctly  according  to  the 
alphabet  and  the  rules  laid  down  in  the  system, 
which  was  also  in  print  at  the  cost  of  a  penny  for 
one  edition  and  eight  pence  for  another.  Anyone 
on  opening  the  '  Exercises  '  would  see  that  the 
shorthand  consisted  of  easy  strokes  which  any 
person  could  make  who  could  handle  a  pen. 

"  5.  That  I  had  a  collection  of  about  fifty 
systems  of  shorthand,  including  every  one  of  note 
that  had  been  published,  and  there  was  not  one 
of  them  that  could  be  compared  with  Phonography 
1  in  point  of  expedition/  Mr.  Templeton  had  not 
named  any  system  that  was  shorter,  so  I  put  my 
assertion  against  his,  having  proved  to  the 
audience  in  many  instances  that  Phonography  was 
considerably  briefer  than  his  system. 


60  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

"  After  giving  this  answer  to  Mr.  Templeton's 
charges,  and  assuring  him  that  I  should  accept  his 
challenge  no  further,  he  still  opposed  my  system 
of  writing,  and  that  in  so  violent  and  outrageous 
a  manner  that  he  was  hissed  down  by  the  audience. 
Among  other  indecent  expressions  by  which  the 
auditors  felt  disgusted,  he  said  that  Phonography 
was  an  '  imposture  '  and  that  I  was  '  foisting ' 
it  upon  the  public.  The  people  knew  too  much  to 
be  willing  to  bear  this  ;  I  had  been  in  the  town 
above  a  week,  and  had  given  four  lectures,  sold 
many  hundred  copies  of  the  work,  and  distributed 
gratuitously  several  thousand  publications,  and 
the  system  was  sold  in  one  form  for  a  penny.  In 
teaching  if  anything  it  was  evident  to  all  that  I 
was  not  humbugging  them  and  putting  money  in 
my  pocket.  Mr.  Templeton  endured  their  scorn 
as  long  as  he  could,  his  voice  being  frequently 
drowned  in  hisses  and  the  unqualified  expression 
of  their  contempt  for  his  remarks,  insomuch  that 
it  was  necessary  for  Mr.  Grundy,  Secretary  to 
the  Christian  Institute,  and  myself,  to  interfere 
in  order  that  he  might  obtain  a  hearing.  He 
could  not  possibly  mistake  the  feeling  of  the 
meeting. 

"  Indeed  he  felt  the  withering  influence  that  was 
around  him,  and  spoke  once  to  this  effect  : 

"  i  If  you  will  not  hear  what  I  have  to  say  I  cannot 
help  it,  I  am  merely  stating  facts  and  they  are  for 
your  benefit/  However,  he  could  not  persuade 
them  that  '  He,  as  an  individual,  could  not  have 
the  slightest  possible  reason  for  bearing  me  any 
ill-will/  He  said  he  bore  me  none,  '  but  having 
been  for  some  time  connected  with  the  Press,  in 
the  capacity  of  a  shorthand  writer,  he  thought  he 
was  sufficiently  qualified  to  pronounce  a  decided 


AN   AMUSING   INCIDENT  61 

opinion  on  the  merits  of  the  system  which  had 
been  propounded/ 

"  When  he  was  leaving  the  room,  the  audience 
insisted  upon  his  recanting  his  expressions  that 
Phonography  was  an  '  imposture  '  and  that  it  was 
1  foisted '  upon  the  public.  After  a  great  deal  of 
talk  to  no  purpose,  wishing  to  avoid  the  recanta- 
tion as  the  audience  was  determined  to  have  it, 
he  at  last  admitted  that  he  had  spoken  '  without 
consideration '  or  '  without  due  consideration/ 
He  also  acknowledged  that  he  had  not  read 
through  the  whole  of  my  little  book,  and  that  he 
did  not  understand  it.  Still  he  had  had  the 
impudence  to  lay  down  the  above  five  positions. 

"  Knowing  what  kind  of  '  farewell '  he  would 
receive  from  the  company,  he  made  up  his  mind 
that  on  leaving  he  would  order  the  people  to  do 
what  he  well  knew  they  were  determined  to  do, 
namely,  to  laugh  at  him.  As  he  was  leaving  he 
said,  '  Now,  gentlemen,  laugh  !  '  which  they  did 
in  good  earnest,  and  then  bought  my  books  more 
readily  on  account  of  the  stir. 

11  Now,  Mr.  Editor,  you  will  ask,  '  What  is  all 
this  to  me  or  the  Manchester  public  now  the  affair 
is  over  ?  '  Nothing  at  all,  and  so  I  thought  at 
the  time,  and  never  intended  taking  any  notice 
of  it,  feeling  sure  Mr.  Templeton  would  not,  and 
that  he  would  have  more  prudence  than  to  publish 
his  own  shame.  Judge,  then,  sir,  how  surprised 
I  was  the  other  day  on  receiving  an  article  cut 
from  the  Manchester  Times  of  January  16th,  and 
measuring  above  a  foot  in  length,  entitled  '  Phono- 
graphic Lecturer's  Extraordinary  Challenge. '  In 
this  document  (furnished  by  Mr.  Templeton,  I 
suppose)  I  am  described  as  having  been  completely 
foiled.     The  charges  and  the  challenge  are  given 


62  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

in  a  style  of  triumph,  Phonography  is  pronounced 
by  this  knight  of  the  quill  to  be  '  the  veriest  mass 
of  absurdity  that  ever  was  written  by  mortal  on 
paper/  And  it  is  said  that  after  hearing  the  awful 
charges  brought  against  me,  I '  looked  considerably 
astonished,  declined  the  challenge,  and  after  some 
conversation  of  no  interest,  the  matter  ended/ 

"  This  '  conversation  of  no  interest '  consisted 
of  a  recantation  which  Mr.  Templeton  was  com- 
pelled to  make,  the  loudly  expressed  reprobation 
of  the  public  for  his  course  of  conduct,  and  his 
humiliating  retreat.  These  things  were,  of  course, 
of  '  no  interest '  to  him,  but  he  should  in  his  state- 
ments respect  the  rights  and  feelings  of  others. 
To  me  and  to  the  audience  they  were  of  equal 
interest  with  the  false  charges  and  the  boasted 
challenge.  I  thought  the  one  was  the  balance  of 
the  other,  and  intended  to  say  nothing  about  the 
matter. 

"  Instead  of  looking  '  considerably  astonished ' 
at  Mr.  Templeton's  bravado,  I  was  mightily 
amused  at  the  Quixotic  expedition  in  which  he  had 
embarked,  and  could  not  help  smiling  at  it.  Indeed, 
it  was  remarked  to  me  after  the  affair  was  over 
that  while  he  was  speaking  I  looked  an  answer  to 
his  heated  vapouring,  and  that  if  I  had  not  spoken 
the  audience  would  have  been  perfectly  satisfied 
that  all  the  hubbub  was  nothing  more  than  a  little 
professional  rivalry  and  jealousy. 

"  I  call  on  you,  Mr.  Editor,  to  do  justice,  not  so 
much  to  me  and  Phonography,  as  to  truth  and 
honesty.  A  scandalous  misrepresentation  has 
been  put  forth  by  the  Press,  and  as  an  Englishman 
I  claim  the  privilege  of  being  heard  in  my  own 
defence. 

"  '  But  why  did  you  not  send  this  refutation  to 


SECOND   LECTURING  TOUR  63 

Mr.  Templeton's  report  as  soon  as  the  Times  of 
January  16th  appeared  ?  '  I  never  saw  it,  nor 
had  an  idea  of  its  existence  till  above  three  months 
after  the  time.  I  remain,  Sir,  Your  obedient 
servant, 

"  Isaac  Pitman. 

"  5  Nelson  Place,  Bath. 
"5  May,  1841." 

If  we  may  judge  from  the  correspondence  re- 
ceived a  short  time  afterwards,  the  merits  of 
Phonography  were  fully  recognized  at  Manchester. 
Among  incidents  of  the  lectures  was  a  demonstra- 
tion of  the  ease  with  which  a  sentence  in  Greek, 
dictated  by  a  member  of  the  audience,  could  be 
recorded  on  the  blackboard.  This  was  done  as  a 
proof  of  the  fact  that  the  "  Alphabet  of  Nature  " 
was  adapted  to  the  representation  of  other 
languages  besides  English.  To  a  Manchester 
correspondent,  "  T.  W."  (Walker)  (who  dictated 
the  Greek  sentence),  Isaac  Pitman  wrote  :  "  It  is 
the  author's  intention  to  make  known  Phono- 
graphy by  lecturing  and  other  means  of  instruc- 
tion, in  every  town  in  the  Kingdom,  should  the 
Divine  mercy  give  him  length  of  days  and 
opportunity/' 

During  the  Midsummer  holiday  of  1841,  Isaac 
Pitman  undertook  a  second  and  longer  lecturing 
tour,  spreading  over  twenty-three  days,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  visited  and  gave  addresses 
at  Devizes,  London,  Ipswich,  Norwich,  Hull, 
Barton-on-Humber,     Leeds,      York,     Newcastle 


64  SIR  ISAAC   PITMAN 

(twice),  Edinburgh  (three  times),  and  Glasgow. 
He  returned  to  London  by  steamer,  and  from 
thence  proceeded  to  Bath  by  the  Great  Western 
Railway,  which  had  been  opened  for  traffic  not 
long  before.  Of  this  series  of  lectures  Mr.  Reed 
has  recorded  some  interesting  impressions,  which 
have  a  unique  interest  from  the  fact  that  no  other 
account  of  them  exists. 

"  At  Edinburgh/'  Mr.  Reed  says,  "  he  could 
only  sell  a  few  copies  of  the  system.  At  Newcastle 
he  received  greater  encouragement.  He  had  large 
and  attentive  audiences,  and  made  many  converts, 
one  of  them  being  the  late  Alderman  T.  P.  Barkas, 
who  himself  shortly  afterwards  became  an  active 
propagandist  of  the  new  faith  ;  for  as  such  it  had 
now  come  to  be  regarded  ;  and  a  bond  of  brother- 
hood was  established  among  its  adherents.  This 
was  largely  due  to  Isaac  Pitman's  own  indomitable 
energy,  his  enthusiastic,  yet  quiet  temperament, 
and  his  profound  belief  in  the  '  cause '  which  he 
had  initiated.     At  that  time  his  highest  hope  was 

the     popularizing     of     shorthand His 

shorthand  scheme  was  propounded  not  as  a  mere 
professional  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  re- 
porter, or  an  occasional  aid  to  the  student,  but  as 
a  method  of  saving  a  large  proportion  of  the  time 
ordinarily  spent  in  writing.  He  boldly  asserted 
that  his  system  was  applicable  to  all,  or  almost  all, 
the  purposes  to  which  longhand  is  applied,  and  he 
especially  advocated  its  use  for  all  kinds  of 
correspondence.     Enforcing  the  maxim  that  '  to 


PRESS   NOTICES  65 

save  time  is  to  prolong  life/  he  invited  all  his 
countrymen  to  become  phonographers,  and  waxed 
eloquent  on  the  benefits  that  would  inevitably 
flow  therefrom/ ' 

One  gratifying  result  of  the  visit  to  Edinburgh 
was  that  the  Brothers  William  and  Robert 
Chambers  gave  the  new  invention  favourable 
mention  in  their  popular  serial  work,  "  Information 
for  the  People."  In  No.  62,  in  which  various 
methods  of  communicating  ideas  were  discussed, 
Phonography  was  mentioned  with  approval,  as 
"  it  does  away  altogether  with  the  tedious  method 
of  spelling,  because  it  has  distinct  signs  for  all  the 
sounds  of  the  human  voice.' '  The  art  had  now 
begun  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  Press,  and  atten- 
tion may  here  be  called  to  an  able  review  of  the 
system  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Ebenezer  Austin  (1818- 
1884) — afterwards  a  well-known  Bristol  shorthand 
writer  and  journalist — which  appeared  in  the 
Bath  and  Cheltenham  Gazette,  on  27th  July,  1841. 
The  superior  utility  of  a  system  with  "  signs  for 
all  the  distinct  sounds  of  the  human  voice,  arranged 
in  their  natural  order,"  as  compared  with  one 
based  on  the  "  common  roundabout  way  of  spell- 
ing/' was  fully  recognized,  and  the  greater  ease 
and  certainty  with  which  Phonography  could  be 
used  was  clearly  pointed  out.  The  reviewer  ended 
with  a  prediction  which  has  been  abundantly 
fulfilled  :  "  We  are/'  he  wrote,  "  sanguine  enough 
to  anticipate  the  day  when  Phonography  will  to  a 
great  extent  supersede  every  mode  of  abbreviated 

5— (2284) 


66  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

writing,  and  be  the  system  of  shorthand  in  general 


use." 


In  the  Christmas  holidays  of  December,  1841, 
and  January,  1842,  Isaac  Pitman  arranged  another 
lecturing  tour,  in  the  course  of  which  he  revisited 
Manchester  in  December.  At  the  office  of  Messrs. 
Bradshaw  &  Blacklock  he  made  his  first  acquaint- 
ance with  the  art  of  lithography.  George  Brad- 
shaw, the  head  of  the  firm,  and  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  was  an  engraver  and  litho- 
grapher, and  had  just  before  started  on  a  small 
scale  the  railway  time  table  with  which  his  name 
has  since  been  identified.  Keen  interest  in  im- 
proved means  of  producing  his  shorthand  system 
led  Isaac  Pitman  to  Mr.  Bradshaw's  office.  The 
method  of  producing  lithographic  matter  by  means 
of  transfer  paper  was  explained  to  him,  and  he  was 
given  a  sheet.  After  an  hour's  trial  with  the 
lithographic  pen,  he  wrote  at  his  lodgings  eight 
pages  of  transfer,  forming  No.  1  of  the  Phono- 
graphic Journal,  dated  January  1842,  and  the 
matter  was  printed  by  Messrs.  Bradshaw  and 
Blacklock. 

The  first  number  of  the  first  shorthand  periodical 
ever  published  m-  this  country  opened  with  a 
manifesto  by  its  editor  and  lithographer  setting 
forth  the  objects  for  which  the  new  journal  was 
established.  One  article  dealt  with  the  reasons 
for  giving  the  title  only  in  the  common  style  of 
printing,  and  another  article  was  given  dealing 
with  the  older  systems  of  English  shorthand.    The 


No.l 


JANUARY.    1842. 


Bice  2d  or 
3.  by  Postpaid. 


mm 
wmmmmmmm  mwbrm* 


FDITOR.  Isaac  Piftnan,.  S.JVzLson  Place-.  BATH. 
PUBLISHER     Bagsler.  75.  Patemostzr  Row.  LONDON 
Sold  also  by  all  Booksellers 


v.  l 


V,   •)'  ch_,  x  .  ^ 


C    'I  c 


FACSIMILE    OF   THE    FIRST    PAGE    OF 

JOURNAL." 


THE    PHONOGRAPHIC 


Key. — The  sure  word  of  prophecy  uttered  by  Our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  "  Behold 
I  make  all  things  new."  is  every  day  receiving  its  fulfilment.  Within  the  last  eighty  years 
almost  everything  has  been  made  anew,  or  is  in  progress  towards  it.  But  till  within  the  last 
four  years  nothing  new  has  practically  appeared  in  the  art  of  writing.  It  is  most  remarkable 
that  that  art  which  is  the  mainspring  of  all  civilization,  has  remained  stationary  from  the 
very  period  of  its  introduction.  This  is,  however,  in  accordance  with  the  general  law  of  order 
prevailing  throughout  the  universe,  that  the  best  things  are  of  the  slowest  growth.  We  at 
the  present  day  communicate  our  ideas  with  no  more  rapidity  than  did  the  Romans,  the 
Greeks,  and  the  Hebrews,  except  that  we  have  more  suitable  materials  for  writing.  By 
leaving  a  space  at  the  end  of  each  word  and  ihe  insertion  of  stops,  we  have  an  advantage  over 
them  in  reading,  but  in  writing  we  have  none.  It  must  be  acknowledged  that  something  is 
gained  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  alphabets,  but  chiefly  in  the  small  letters,  compared  with  the 
Hebrew,  but  this  advantage  is  overbalanced  with  respect  to  ours  and  of  the  other  nations 
that  have  adopted  the  Roman  alphabet  through  the  introduction  of  a  most  "  cumbrous 
orthography,"    so  that  what  we  gain 


"PHONOGRAPHIC   JOURNAL"  67 

last  page  was  devoted  to  intelligence  respecting 
the  progress  of  the  art  (at  this  time  incorrectly 
termed  a  "  science  ")  which  shows  that,  in  spite 
of  the  opposition  already  referred  to,  and  the 
hostility  of  the  Manchester  local  press,  the  students 
and  practitioners  of  the  art  already  numbered  one 
thousand.  No.  1  of  the  Journal  ran  to  a  second 
edition,  and  from  this  issue  we  quote  below  a 
transcription  of  portions  of  the  first  article,  as 
follows  : — 

"  Till  within  the  last  four  years  nothing  new 
has  practically  appeared  in  the  art  of  writing.  It  is 
most  remarkable  that  that  art  which  is  the  main- 
spring of  all  civilization,  has  remained  stationary 
from  the  very  period  of  its  introduction.  This  is, 
however,  in  accordance  with  the  general  law  of 
order  prevailing  throughout  the  universe,  that  the 
best  things  are  of  the  slowest  growth.  We  at  the 
present  day  communicate  our  ideas  with  no  more 
rapidity  than  did  the  Romans,  the  Greeks,  and  the 
Hebrews,  except  that  we  have  more  suitable 
materials  for  writing.  By  leaving  a  space  at  the 
end  of  each  word  and  the  insertion  of  stops,  we 
have  an  advantage  over  them  in  reading,  but  in 
writing  we  have  none.     ... 

"  The  following  must  suffice  to  show  how  concise 
is  the  pronunciation  of  our  beautiful  English 
tongue  and  how  prolix  is  its  orthography.  Through 
contains  two  letters,  a  double  consonant  and  a 
single  vowel,  yet  it  requires  seven  letters  to  express 
it,  t-h-r-o-u-g-h !  Weight  consists  of  two  sounds 
but  needs  six  letters  in  the  common  spelling, 
w-e-i-g-h-t !  Here  again  neither  of  the  letters 
except  the  final  t  is  heard  in  the  word. 


68  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

"  Stricken  is  composed  of  three  letters,  a  treble 
consonant,  a  single  vowel  and  a  double  consonant, 
but  it  requires  eight  signs  to  represent  it  to  the 
eye  in  the  common  way  of  writing,  s-t-r-i-c-k-e-n  ! 
Once  more,  though  is  formed  of  the  two  sounds 
thee  and  o,  but  not  less  than  six  letters  will  express 
the  word  in  longhand — t-h-o-u-g-h. 

"  We  may  here  be  met  with  the  remark  that 
shorthand  has  been  known  in  England  250  years, 
and  that  this  is  a  great  improvement  in  the  art  of 
writing.  *  Why  then  has  it  not  come  into  general 
practice  ?  '  No  other  answer  can  be  given  than 
this  :  '  Because  it  is  impracticable  according  to  any 
of  the  systems  that  ever  appeared  previously  to 
c  Phonography/  We  shall  often  have  the  oppor- 
tunity in  our  pages  of  showing  the  reason  why 
shorthand  based  upon  a,  b,  c,  cannot  become 
universal,  and  that  it  may  become  universal  when 
founded  upon  the  phonetic  principle. 

"  It  is  now  only  four  years  and  a  half  since  the 
principles  of  Phonography  began  to  be  developed 
to  the  mind  of  the  editor  of  this  Journal.  In  three 
months,  namely  in  Nov.  1837,  it  was  given  to  the 
world  in  a  small  work  entitled  'Stenographic 
Sound-Hand/  made  as  perfect  as  other  and  what 
appeared  more  important  engagements  would 
allow  of.  In  Jan.  1840,  it  was  republished  with 
considerable  improvements,  suggested  during  two 
years'  use  of  the  science.     .     .     . 

"  A  new  era  has  now  dawned  upon  the  science — 
the  establishment  of  this  Journal — and  we  have 
no  doubt  that  the  thousand  phonographers  that 
are  now  in  existence  will  be  doubled  during  the 
present  year.  This  will  be  attributed  chiefly  to 
this  publication. 

"  The  Journal  will  appear  monthly,  and  we  are 


GLASGOW   VISITED  69 

confident  that  we  shall  receive  the  support  of  every 
phonographer.  The  general  expression  of  delight 
which  greeted  the  announcement  of  the  work  is  a 
pledge  to  us  that  it  will  be  a  source  of  pleasure 
and  usefulness  to  all  readers  of  the  science,  and 
one  of  the  best  means  whereby  to  extend  its 
blessings  to  others.  At  the  same  time  that  it  will 
convey  interesting  phonographic  intelligence,  it  will 
give  extensive  practice  in  reading  the  science, 
which  is  at  present  much  needed.' ' 

Of  the  first  number  of  the  Phonographic  Journal 
one  thousand  copies  were  printed.  Some  hundreds 
were  circulated  in  Manchester,  and  a  portion  of 
the  impression  was  sent  to  Mr.  Bagster,  for 
publication  in  London. 

Isaac  Pitman  went  from  Manchester  to  Glasgow, 
where  he  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  winter 
vacation  to  lecturing  on  and  teaching  Phono- 
graphy. He  reached  Glasgow  on  the  7th  and  left 
on  the  20th  January,  and  during  that  time 
delivered  six  lectures  at  the  following  places, 
namely,  the  Glasgow  University,  the  Andersonian 
University,  the  Grammar  School,  the  Mechanics' 
Institution,  the  Anderson  Popular  Institution,  and 
at  Laurieston.  From  the  audiences  a  total  of 
eighty  entered  on  the  study  of  Phonography,  and 
their  instructor  records  that  at  the  close  of  the 
third  lesson  the  greater  part  could  write  the  system 
with  tolerable  readiness.  The  lecture  at  the  Uni- 
versity was  delivered  in  the  Common  Hall,  and 
was  attended  by  about  three  hundred  students ; 
of  these,  thirty-three  had  a  course  of  lessons  at  the 


70  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

University,  and  a  dozen  attended  other  classes. 
Before  he  left  Glasgow,  the  following  unsolicited 
testimonial  was  handed  to  him,  signed  by  two 
distinguished  professors  of  the  University.  It 
was  published  by  its  recipient  in  his  Journal 
for  February,  1842,  and  wa,s  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

Glasgow  College, 

ISth  Jan.,  1842. 

We  have  examined  with  care  and  interest  Mr.  Pitman's 
analysis  of  the  sounds  of  language  which  is  made  the  basis  of 
his  system  of  Phonography,  and  we  consider  it  not  only 
ingenious  but  also  as  founded  throughout  on  correct  philoso- 
phical principles.  His  system  of  Phonography  we  have  not 
had  time  to  examine,  but  as  it  rests  on  so  good  a  basis,  we  can 
have  no  doubt  of  its  possessing  great  merit. 

James  Thomson. 
William  Ramsay. 

Professor  Thomson's  two  sons  were  instructed 
in  Phonography  at  their  home.  One  of  these 
scholars,  William,  became  the  world  famous 
scientist,  the  late  Lord  Kelvin  ;  the  other  was  the 
late  Professor  James  Thomson.  Many  years  after 
Isaac  Pitman  met  his  old  pupil,  Lord  Kelvin,  on  a 
visit  of  the  latter  to  Bath,  when  he  expressed 
himself  as  still  interested  in  Phonography,  though 
he  had  not  kept  up  his  practice  of  the  art. 

There  were  no  further  lecturing  and  teaching 
tours  undertaken  by  the  Inventor  of  Phonography 
in  the  school  vacations.  The  success  of  the  system 
resulted  in  a  large  demand  for  instruction  books, 


THE   "POCKET  EDITION" 


71 


and  these  were  produced  in  several  styles  and  in 
greatly  improved  form  by  Isaac  Pitman  during 
1842.  In  this  year  the  popular  "  Pocket  Edition  " 
was  brought  out,  and  also  the  first  text-book  to 
which  the  title  of  "  Manual  of  Phonography  "  was 
given.  He  had  in  addition  to  undertake  single- 
handed  the  literary  work  and  the  then  novel  task 


«^ ~->  W  f"Z — — *> 


\oo^ 


Priced 


DESIGN   ON   THE   COVER   OF  THE    "  POCKET 
EDITION"   OF   PHONOGRAPHY    (1842) 

of  transfer  writing  of  the  pages  of  his  monthly 
Journal,  issued  in  lithographed  shorthand,  and  the 
provision  of  a  large  amount  of  propagandist 
literature  in  the  ordinary  print.  All  these  pro- 
ductions were  printed  and  bound  in  Bath,  under 
the  personal  supervision  of  their  author. 

Mr.   Joseph   Pitman  in   the   summer   of   1841 
entered  the  field  as  a  travelling  lecturer  on  and 


72  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

teacher  of  his  brother's  system.  In  a  tour  in  the 
West  of  England,  the  city  of  Worcester  was 
visited,  where  the  oldest  existing  English  provincial 
newspaper  Berrow's  Worcester  Journal  (founded  in 
1709)  in  its  issue  of  3rd  February,  1842,  pronounced 
the  new  system  to  be  "  undoubtedly  unique,  clever, 
and  complete/ '  though  it  was  not  convinced  of  the 
feasibility  of  phonetic  writing.  In  1842  Mr.  Benn 
Pitman  came  out  as  a  phonographic  lecturer. 
Other  instructors  were  at  this  time  beginning  to 
issue  circulars,  and  the  regular  teaching  of  the 
system  may  be  said  to  have  definitely  begun. 


VII 

THE  WRITING  AND    SPELLING    REFORM — THE   FIRST 

INSTITUTE 

1843 

At  the  beginning  of  1843  Isaac  Pitman  discon- 
tinued the  private  school  he  had  conducted  since 
his  settlement  in  Bath,  in  order  that  he  might 
devote  his  whole  time  to  the  production  of  the 
various  books,  periodicals,  and  leaflets  connected 
with  his  system  of  Phonography,  and  early  in  the 
year  he  added  to  the  text-books  already  noticed 
"  The  Reporter's  Book  "  his  first  special  adaptation 
of  the  system  to  verbatim  reporting.  There  was 
now  a  steady  and  increasing  demand  for  treatises 
on  the  art,  and  a  large  portion  of  his  time  was 
henceforward  devoted  to  the  production  of  suc- 
cessive editions  of  his  shorthand  works.  His 
residence  was  now  designated  the  "  Phonographic 
Institution  M  on  his  publications  and  on  all  that 
he  sent  out.  He  had  at  this  time  a  large  corre- 
spondence, which  was  swollen  by  great  numbers 
of  exercises  from  learners  sent  for  correction,  and 
involving  a  vast  amount  of  voluntary  labour.  But 
his  work  was  attacked  and  disposed  of  from  day  to 
day  with  unabated  energy,  and  he  was  invariably 
successful  in  imparting  a  portion  of  his  own  intense 
enthusiasm  for  his  invention  to  those  who  had 
mastered  it,  who  now  numbered  some  thousands 

73 


74  SIR  ISAAC   PITMAN 

of  active  workers  in  all  parts.  Early  in  this  year 
(1843)  a  youthful  disciple,  destined  to  become  a 
famous  exponent  and  writer  of  Phonography,  paid 
a  visit  to  Nelson  Place.  Mr.  Reed,  the  visitor  in 
question,  was  a  boy  of  sixteen  and  living  at  Bristol 
when  he  first  saw  Isaac  Pitman.  "  He  was  then/' 
Mr.  Reed  tells  us,  "  a  young  man,  tall,  slim,  active, 
springy  in  all  his  movements/ '  and  his  cheerful, 
ready  explanation  of  the  work  to  which  he  was 
devoting  all  his  time,  from  five  or  six  in  the  morn- 
ing till  nine  or  ten  at  night,  made  a  lasting 
impression  on  young  Reed. 

Had  it  been  possible,  it  was  no  longer  necessary 
for  the  Inventor  of  Phonography  to  travel  and 
lecture  personally  on  his  system,  although  at 
intervals  he  attended  gatherings  of  a  special 
character,  as  will  be  described  in  due  course.  A 
number  of  additional  lecturers  had  entered  the 
field  early  this  year,  while  those  already  engaged 
in  such  work  were  extremely  active  throughout 
1843.  In  most  of  the  towns  they  visited  the 
subject  had  the  charm  of  novelty,  and  almost 
invariably  attracted  large  audiences,  among  whom 
the  fervent  enthusiasm  of  the  lecturers  was 
successful  in  enlisting  a  band  of  adherents  who 
afterwards  practised  and  taught  the  art.  The 
early  workers  in  this  field  (in  addition  to  Joseph 
and  Benn  Pitman)  were  George  Withers,  a  nephew 
of  Mrs.  Pitman  ;  T.  A.  Reed  and  F.  E.  Woodward, 
afterwards  partners  in  the  well-known  London 
shorthand     writing    firm ;      T.     P.     (afterwards 


THE  FIRST  SOCIETY  75 

Alderman)  Barkas,  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne ;  William 
Hepworth  Dixon,  afterwards  famous  as  an  author 
and  editor  (1853-69)  of  the  Athenceum  ;  T.  Walker, 
of  the  Commercial  Bank  of  England,  Manchester  ; 
W.  G.  Ward,  who  afterwards  became  Mayor  of 
Nottingham  ;  and  later  on  James  Clarke,  after- 
wards editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Christian 
World;  H.  S.  Brooke,  J.  H.  Mogford,  G.  R. 
Haywood,  C.  Sully,  J.  Hornsby,  and  F.  Carson. 
There  were  many  others  in  all  parts  of  Great 
Britain  who  within  a  few  years  from  this  date 
publicly  lectured  on  and  taught  the  system,  and 
among  them  were  the  two  younger  brothers  of  the 
Inventor,  Henry  and  Frederick  Pitman. 

A  suggestion  was  made  by  Mr.  Reed  in  February, 
1843,  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
first  society  in  connection  with  the  phonographic 
art.  He  proposed  to  the  Inventor  that  he  should 
"  introduce,  by  letter,  some  friends  whose  time  is 
not  fully  occupied,  to  other  friends  in  different 
places,  thereby  establishing  a  correspondence 
between  phonographers  in  different  parts  of  the 
kingdom."  "  The  same  thing,"  Isaac  Pitman 
observed,  "  was  proposed  to  us  last  year  by  another 
correspondent,  who  very  properly  recommended 
the  Journal  as  the  repository  of  the  addresses  of 
such  as  wished  thus  to  exchange  ideas."  He 
expressed  his  full  concurrence  in  Mr.  Reed's 
proposal,  and  observed  that  it  would  be  well  to 
form  a  society  entitled  "  The  Phonographic  Corre- 
sponding Society,"  with  the  names  and  addresses 


76  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

of  members  published  in  the  Journal,  "  the 
society/'  he  added,  "  may  be  made  very  useful  by 
taking  part  of  our  own  labours,  which  have  really 
become  too  heavy  for  any  one  person  to  perform 
well.  It  is  that  of  correcting  the  lessons  of 
learners  through  the  post  gratuitously/ !  In 
response  to  an  invitation  twenty-seven  individuals 
sent  their  names  and  addresses.  These  were 
published  in  the  Journal  for  March,  and  thus 
formed  the  first  list  of  members  of  the  new  society. 
By  the  end  of  1843  there  was  a  total  of  300 
members,  and  from  this  time  onward  the  society 
vastly  increased  in  numbers  and  in  usefulness. 

But  even  in  the  pursuit  of  the  most  useful 
branch  of  knowledge,  human  nature  seems  to  be 
so  constituted  that  occasional  relaxation  is  abso- 
lutely necessary.  A  pause  must  be  made  now  and 
then  in  order  to  discover  what  progress  has  been 
achieved,  and  to  gain  encouragement  for  renewed 
exertions.  It  was  for  a  purpose  of  this  kind  that 
the  phonographic  festivals  appear  to  have  been 
instituted.  The  first  took  place  at  Manchester  on 
15th  March,  1843,  and  attracted  100  friends  of 
Phonography,  who  partook  of  tea  and  indulged  in 
speech-making.  Mr.  George  Falkner,  editor  of 
Bradshaw's  Journal,  was  unable  to  preside,  but 
sent  a  letter  in  which  he  said,  "  I  feel  it  a  depriva- 
tion to  be  absent  from  this  epoch  in  the  history  of 
Phonography — this  erection  of  the  first  milestone 
in  the  path  which  is  to  conduct  to  its  universal 
recognition/ ' 


NOTTINGHAM   FESTIVAL  77 

The  second  festival  was  held  at  Nottingham  on 
6th  June,  and  here  about  450  sat  down  to  tea,  and 
the  number  afterwards  increased  to  600.  The 
Nottingham  Mercury  gave  a  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings in  the  Exchange  Hall,  and  as  the  account 
furnishes  a  very  good  idea  of  what  the  festival 
proceedings  were  like,  we  quote  a  short  descriptive 
passage.  The  writer  observes  : — "  The  manage- 
ment of  the  festival  was  under  the  direction  of  a 
committee,  who  are  a  body  of  spirited  phono- 
graphers,  and  who,  for  their  strenuous  exertions  to 
make  the  festival  both  pleasing  and  instructive, 
deserve  the  greatest  praise.  Four  tables,  extend- 
ing the  whole  length  of  the  room,  were  tastefully 
laid  out  with  numerous  massive  glass  vases,  con- 
taining the  choicest  flowers,  and  urns  decorated 
with  garlands  of  no  small  beauty.  At  the  upper 
end  of  the  room  was  placed  a  cross  table,  intended 
for  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman  and  his  brothers,  together 
with  phonographers  from  distant  places.  In  fact, 
the  whole  presented  an  exceedingly  pleasing 
appearance  ;  the  usual  splendid  fascinations  of  the 
hall  adding  their  charms  to  the  scene.  Never  was 
a  miscellaneous  party  more  highly  honoured  with 

Sparkling  eyes  and  happy  faces 

than  the  present."  The  editor  of  the  Journal 
adds  that  the  tea  was  very  well  served,  and  that 
when  the  tables  were  cleared,  a  platform  was 
erected  for  the  speakers.  There  was  music  by  a 
select  choir,  and  a  "  high-toned  piano  "  enlivened 


78  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

the  proceedings.  The  orators  on  the  occasion 
included  Mr.  Barkas,  Mr.  Joseph  Pitman,  Mr.  Benn 
Pitman,  Mr.  Reed,  and  Isaac  Pitman.  The 
speeches  were  of  a  most  enthusiastic  description, 
and  appear  to  have  carried  conviction  to  the  minds 
of  the  audience.  As  the  "  platform "  did  not 
desire  to  monopolize  the  whole  time  of  the  meeting, 
the  audience  was  invited  to  participate  in  the 
oratory,  with  the  result  that  "  a  gentleman  in  the 
body  of  the  room  then  stood  upon  his  seat  and 
addressed  the  assembly  in  a  very  humorous  strain. 
He  stated  that  he  had  come  fifteen  miles  to  attend 
the  festival ;  that  he  had  lately  commenced  the 
study  of  Phonography,  and  was  more  pleased  with 
it  than  with  anything  else  he  had  ever  met  with. 
He  urged  its  study  upon  the  attention  of  the 
young,  and  forewarned  them  of  the  bitter  regrets 
they  would  feel  hereafter,  if  they  should  now 
neglect  it."  When  the  speeches  were  over,  "  many 
of  the  youthful  part  of  the  company  remained  to 
enjoy  themselves  with  music  and  a  festive  dance/ ' 
The  third  festival  was  held  at  Birmingham  on 
the  18th  July,  and  to  the  enjoyable  accompani- 
ments of  tea  and  music,  but  without  the  dance  as 
a  finale.  Again  speeches  were  made  fully  as  en- 
thusiastic as  those  which  had  been  delivered  at 
the  previous  festivals.  The  tea-party  numbered 
170,  but  how  many  attended  the  subsequent  meet- 
ing is  not  recorded.  Dr.  Melson  presided,  and 
the  other  orators  included  Mr.  T.  W.  Hill,  the 
father  of  the  eminent  Post   Office   reformer,   Mr. 


SPEECH   AT   BIRMINGHAM  79 

Joseph  Pitman,  Mr.  Benn  Pitman,  and  Isaac 
Pitman.  The  speech  of  the  last  named  contained 
some  interesting  references  to  the  origin  of 
Phonography. 

"  It  originated/'  Isaac  Pitman  observed,  "  with 
myself  so  far  as  this,  that  I  knew  nothing  of  an 
attempt  to  write  by  sound  having  been  made  by 
any  one  else  till  three  years  after  I  had  published 
the  first  edition  of  Phonography,  under  the  title 
of  '  Stenographic  Sound-Hand/  I  then  met  with 
the  work  of  Mr.  George  Edmonds,  of  this  town, 
aiming  at  the  same  object.  I  have  since  seen 
several  others  ;  and  I  may  refer  particularly  to  a 
system  of  phonetic  writing,  constructed  by  a 
gentleman  now  present,  T.  W.  Hill,  esq.,  honoured 
and  respected  for  his  age  and  virtues,  and 
particularly  so,  as  being  the  father  of  our  great 
benefactor,  Rowland  Hill. 

"  You  will  perhaps  be  led  to  inquire,  How  is  it 
that  the  authors  that  have  published  such  systems 
have  all  failed  in  their  attempt  to  gain  writers, 
while  Phonography,  in  the  course  of  three  years, 
has  attracted  the  attention  of  many  thousand 
persons,  a  Journal  being  printed  in  it,  to  which 
there  are  already  a  thousand  subscribers,  and  the 
number  daily  increasing  ?  I  can  account  for  it 
only  in  this  way.  The  framers  of  other  systems 
did  not  possess  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  all 
the  materials  for  swift  writing  ;  they  did  not  know 
the  comparative  value  of  every  stroke  and  dot ; 
neither  had  they  observed  the  analogy  between 
the  four  positions  in  which  a  line  may  be  placed, 
and  the  four  seats  of  articulation,  the  lips,  teeth, 
palate,  and  throat ;  they  did  not  give  single  marks 
for  the  double  vowels  ye,  ya,  yah,  yau,  yo,  yoo  ; 


80  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

we,  wa,  wah,  wau,  wo,  woo  ;  nor  did  they  hit  upon 
the  beautiful  expedient  of  halving  the  consonants 
to  signify  the  addition  of  t  or  d.  There  are  some 
other  minor  points  that  might  be  noticed  in 
connection  with  this  subject,  such  as  the  hooking 
on  of  I  and  r  to  all  the  letters,  etc." 

There  were  many  other  gatherings  of  a  similar 
kind,  but  an  enumeration  of  them  is  unnecessary. 
All  who  took  part  in  these  proceedings  were  very 
much  in  earnest,  and  their  enthusiasm  no  doubt 
occasionally  betrayed  them  into  some  extrava- 
gances of  language.  But  what  great  movement 
ever  made  satisfactory  progress  without  the 
momentum  which  enthusiasm  engenders  ? 

The  enthusiasm  for  Phonography  was  partici- 
pated in  by  its  London  publisher.  On  reading  in 
Timothe  Bright' s  dedication  of  his  "  Characterie  " 
to  Queen  Elizabeth  that  Cicero  contrived  a  short- 
hand and  Seneca  improved  it,  Samuel  Bagster  at 
this  time  sent  the  following  verses  to  the  Inventor 
of  Phonography  : — 

TO  MR.   PITMAN,  OF  BATH, 

On  his  Invention  of  the  Phonographic  Art,  and  successful 
Efforts  in  spreading  a  knowledge  of  it. 

Were  Cicero's  sweet  voice  now  heard, 
This  art  would  gather  every  word, 

Nor  leave  one  thought  unwrit ; 
Were  Seneca's  deep  knowledge  taught, 
(A  wisdom  that  a  nation  sought), 
.    .  To  gather  it,  'tis  fit. 


JOHN  BRIGHT'S  TESTIMONY         81 

Had  Cicero's  admirers  known, 
Or,  Seneca  the  science  shown 

Of  Phonographic  art ; — 
The  world  would  now  have  held  a  prize, 
And  all  this  wisdom  met  our  eyes, 

And  not,  as  now,  A  part. 

Mr.  John  Bright  was  among  those  who  were  at 
this  period  impressed  with  the  value  of  Phono- 
graphy, and  he  defrayed  half  the  expenses  of  a 
lecture  delivered  at  the  Rochdale  Theatre  on  15th 
September,  1843,  by  Mr.  Joseph  Pitman.  After 
witnessing  the  practical  demonstrations  of  the  use 
of  Phonography  given  by  the  lecturer  and  Mr. 
Reed,  Mr.  Bright,  who  presided,  addressed  the 
audience  in  the  following  terms  : — 

I  am  greatly  astonished  at  what  I  have  seen.  I  think  no 
person  can  have  been  at  this  lecture  or  attended  the  one  that 
was  given  this  day  week,  without  being  convinced  that  all  that 
has  been  promised  by  this  science  may  easily  be  performed  ; 
and  that  it  is  so  exceedingly  simple  as  to  be  easily  learned  by 
everyone  of  ordinary  capacity  ;  and  if  it  be  learned  by  a  very 
large  number  of  the  people,  the  public  benefits  to  be  derived 
from  it  are  entirely  incalculable.  It  may  be  said,  also,  that,  to 
make  it  very  valuable,  it  is  necessary  that  great  multitudes 
should  learn  it.  Shorthands  are  of  very  little  use  if  they  are 
only  known  to  a  select  few  ;  for  men  are  not  writing  always 
to  the  same  men  ;  and  if  ever  it  is  to  come  into  general  use, 
it  must  be,  I  think,  by  very  large  multitudes  learning  it ;  and 
I  see  no  reason  why,  in  this  town,  we  should  not  have  a  class 
of  four  or  five  hundred,  or  more.  If  five  hundred  knew  it  well, 
and  used  it,  many  thousands  would  be  forced  to  learn  and 
practise  it  from  necessity.  In  this  age,  when  we  are  talking 
so  much  about  education — when  we  ought  to  be  doing  so 
much  more  than  we  are — this  science  appears  to  me  likely  to 
tend  to  increase  the  love  of  reading  and  writing,  and  of 
education  generally  ;    and  it  seems  to  have  sprung  up  at  a 

6— (;284) 


82  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

time  when,  like  many  other  improvements,  it  was  most  needed ; 
and  when,  in  all  probability,  it  will  be  seized  upon  with  the 
greatest  avidity.  I  may  say  for  myself  that  I  am  extremely 
obliged,  personally,  to  the  Inventor,  and  to  the  gentleman 
who  has  come  among  us  and  given  us  these  lectures  ;  and 
hope  to  be  much  more  so,  when  I  become  acquainted  with  the 
science.  We  are  extremely  indebted  to  them  for  the  very 
handsome  manner  in  which  they  have  come  forward,  in 
offering  to  teach,  gratuitously,  all  such  as  find  it  difficult  to 
pay ;  and,  unfortunately,  there  are  too  many  such  in  these 
days.  I  trust  there  will  be  no  want  of  those  who  can  pay, 
to  remunerate  them  for  this  handsome  offer  which  they  have 
made  towards  those  who  cannot  pay.  I  shall  be  glad  if  this 
town,  which,  on  many  occasions,  has  stood  foremost  among 
the  towns  in  Lancashire  on  some  other  questions,  should  not 
be  behind  in  one  so  important  as  this. 

In  later  years  Mr.  Bright's  eldest  daughter 
(afterwards  Mrs.  Clark)  learned  Phonography  and 
became  her  father's  amanuensis,  often  writing 
from  his  dictation. 

The  testimony  of  two  well-known  journalists 
to  the  merits  of  Phonography  demands  record 
here.  Mr  John  Harland,  a  famous  reporter,  and 
afterwards  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Manchester 
Guardian — who  wrote  a  system  of  his  own — was  so 
much  impressed  with  its  practical  merits,  that  he 
stated  that  Phonography  "  contains  within  itself 
the  power  of  becoming  superior  to  all "  systems 
of  shorthand  extant.  Mr.  John  King,  proprietor 
and  editor  of  the  Suffolk  Chronicle,  in  addition 
to  hearty  advocacy  of  the  system,  started  a 
phonographic  magazine. 

In  this  year  (1843)  the  first  practical  steps  were 
taken  to   realize   an  idea   which   had   originally 


"PHONOTYPIC   JOURNAL"  83 

occurred  to  Isaac  Pitman  in  the  preceding  spring. 
Why,  he  asked  himself,  should  not  the  phono- 
graphic alphabet,  so  successful  for  writing,  be 
employed  in  printing  the  English  language  ?  In 
August,  1842,  he  mentioned  in  his  Journal  a 
proposal  for  a  printing  alphabet  to  consist  of  all 
the  separate  phonographic  signs  for  the  simple  and 
compound  forms  of  consonants  and  vowels  in  his 
system.  As  this  would  need  a  total  of  115  distinct 
characters,  leaving  "  upper  case,"  or  capital 
letters,  out  of  sight  altogether,  it  was  obviously 
impracticable  for  use  in  the  printing  office,  while 
the  disjoined  geometric  characters  when  assembled 
in  words  would  have  presented  a  far  from  har- 
monious appearance.  But  out  of  this  idea  arose 
a  practicable  plan  for  adding  additional  signs  for 
unrepresented  simple  consonants  and  vowels  to 
the  Roman  alphabet.  In  1843  Isaac  Pitman 
issued  his  periodical  in  two  sections,  one  the 
Phonographic  Journal,  lithographed  in  Phono- 
graphy by  its  Inventor,  and  the  other,  the 
Phonotypic  Journal,  for  the  advocacy  of  Spel- 
ling Reform.  The  proposition  was  enunciated 
that  "  As  Phonography  becomes  the  general 
medium  of  written  communication,  phonotypic 
printing  must  follow.  We  shall,  therefore,"  he 
said,  "  advocate  Phonography  as  a  means  for  the 
attainment  of  the  great  need — Phonotypic  Print- 
ing." From  this  time  he  regarded  his  system  of 
shorthand  chiefly  as  an  introduction  to  Spelling 
Reform ;    and   to   the   advocacy   of   a   phonetic 


84  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

notation  he  devoted  the  strenuous  efforts  of  a 
lifetime  and  his  own  means  without  stint,  while  he 
had  also  the  moral  and  pecuniary  support  of  a  large 
number  of  adherents  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
Of  these  the  most  distinguished  was  Mr.  (after- 
wards Dr.)  Alexander  John  Ellis  (1814-1890),  then 
residing  at  Dorking,  who  having  had  his  attention 
called  to  Phonography  by  a  notice  in  the  Athenceum 
of  the  Birmingham  festival,  wrote  in  the  following 
terms  to  Isaac  Pitman  in  a  letter  dated  6th  August, 
1843  :— 

.  Although  I  have  for  some  years,  and  especially  during  the 
last  fifteen  months,  bestowed  considerable  attention  on  the 
phonetical  analysis  of  languages,  it  has  so  happened  that 
I  never  heard  of  Phonography  till  two  days  ago.  I  have  been 
diligently  reading  the  "  Manual  "  and  the  last  number  of  the 
Journal,  and  am  delighted  to  find  that  our  labours  do  not 
clash.  You  have  bestowed  your  principal  attention  on  the 
phonographic  ;  I  on  the  phonofy^'c  division  of  the  subject. 
It  was  my  chief  object  to  produce  an  alphabet  which  should 
be  easy  to  print ;  and  I  think  that  I  have  succeeded  at  last  in 
forming  an  alphabet  of  the  eighty-two  primitive  sounds  of 
the  principal  European  and  Oriental  languages  such  as  could 
be  set  up  by  any  country  compositor  at  any  country  press. 

On  12th  September,  Mr.  Ellis  again  wrote  to  Isaac 
Pitman  making  certain  practical  suggestions  for 
increasing  the  fund  which  had  been  opened  to 
provide  for  the  cost  of  the  first  phonotypic 
alphabet.  After  considerable  discussion,  the  new 
forms  for  the  first  phonotypic  letters  were  agreed 
upon,  and  an  order  was  given  to  Messrs.  V.  and  J. 
Figgins,  typefounders,  who  produced  a  fount  of  the 
new  letters  before  the  close  of  1843. 


VIII 

v 

PHONOTYPY  INTRODUCED — PHONOGRAPHY  AND  THE 
SPELLING  REFORM  ATTACKED  AND   DEFENDED 

1844-1845 

In  spite  of  his  many  activities  at  this  period,  Isaac 
Pitman  found  time  to  edit  and  lithograph  a  second 
monthly  shorthand  magazine,  entitled  the  Phono- 
graphic Correspondent,  which  began  its  course  in 
January,  1844,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  took  the 
place  of  the  phonographic  section  of  the  Journal. 
Next  to  his  industry,  his  versatility  at  this  period 
of  his  life  is  little  short  of  astonishing.  Hardly 
any  of  the  earlier  or  contemporary  reformers  of 
English  spelling — however  excellent  may  have 
been  the  schemes  they  formulated  in  their  treatises 
— had,  or  aspired  to  have,  a  practical  acquaintance 
with  the  art  of  printing,  which  is  so  greatly  affected 
by  projects  of  this  description.  The  Inventor  of 
Phonography,  however,  acquired  in  the  office  of 
his  printers,  the  proprietors  of  the  Bath  Journal, 
practical  skill  in  typesetting,  and  was  thus  enabled 
to  "  set "  with  his  own  hands  the  first  page  of 
phonotypic  printing  produced  in  this  country. 
This  practical  knowledge  of  the  art  of  letterpress 
printing  was  destined  to  prove  of  the  utmost 
service  in  succeeding  years,  both  in  Spelling 
Reform  experiments  and  in  the  production  of  his 

85 


86  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

shorthand  instruction  books.  His  typographical 
attainments  in  connection  with  Phonotypy  were 
the  necessary  complement  to  his  lithographic 
transfer  writing  ability  in  association  with  Phono- 
graphy. But  for  his  skill  in  these  two  classes  of 
work,  the  history  of  Phonography  and  Phonotypy 
might  have  been  widely  different. 

Isaac  Pitman's  first  Annual  Address  to  the 
Phonographic  Corresponding  Society  and  to  sub- 
scribers to  the  phonetic  fount,  appeared  in  the 
early  days  of  January,  1844,  and  filled  two 
pages  of  phonotypic  printing,  the  first  put  in  type 
from  the  new  phonotypic  fount  (in  small  capital 
letters  only),  provided  in  part  by  subscriptions 
from  supporters  of  the  movement,  and  in  part  paid 
for  by  its  originator.  "  Many  attempts/ '  he 
reminded  his  supporters,  "  have  been  made  to 
reform  the  errors  of  our  written  language,  but 
hitherto  without  success.  .  .  .  There  was 
no  desire  created  in  the  public  mind  for  a 
consistent  system  of  orthography  ;  now,  by  your 
benevolent  exertions  in  spreading  abroad  the 
truths  of  phonetic  writing,  a  desire  has  been 
created  for  phonotypy,  a  desire  that  will  increase 
by  that  on  which  it  feeds.,,  The  work  of  reforming 
English  orthography  was,  in  a  word,  set  about 
under  the  inspiration  of  a  noble  desire  to  aid  the 
march  of  the  human  intellect. 

The  Reading  and  Writing  Reform,  now  fully 
inaugurated,  was  brought  before  the  public  at 
a    time   when    several    great   movements   which 


ADRE'S 

TH  AH  MEMBURZ  OV  AU    "FDNDGRAFIK  KORESPONDIM  SDSA'ETI,' 
AND  AU  SUBSKRABURZ  TH  AH  FDNETIK  FHNT. 


DirFrendz, — It  iz  wia  ple'zurabil  filimz  ovnd  o'rdinhri  kand 
aat  a  adre's  uj  in  fdno'tipi,  and  aus  ofhr  uj  ah  rizu'lt  ov  au  fhrst 

EKSPE'rIMENT  MED  WIA  AH  FHNT  HWIG  UJR  LIBURa'lITI  HAZ  ENEBSLD 
MI  TH  PRDVa'd.  Th  UJ  WIE  FUJCUR  EJIZ  LUK,  AZ  BUM,  UNDHR  DiVA'n 
Pro'vIDENS,  AI  INTRDDUJSHRZ  OV  A  KORE'KT  MDD  OV  RATIM  AND 
PRINTIH  :  AI  INSTRUKTHRZ  OV  AH  Sl'viLAZD  WHRLD  IN  AU  TRH 
PRl'NSIPXLZ  OV  AAT  ART  HWIG'IZ  AU  MENSPRIM  OV  SIVILIZE'sUN: 
AI  IMa'nSIPETURZ  OV  AI  INFANT  MAND  FROM  AU  GOLIH  GENZ  OV  AU 
PREZENT  SISTEM  OV  0R@o'gRAFI  :  AND  AI  e'lIVETURZ  OV  AH  GRET  MAS 
OV  MANKA'ND  FROM  AH  LDESTDEP0S  OV  l'GNDRANS  AND  SUJPURSTl'sUN 
TH  AH  PLE2URZ  OV  SAENS,  AND  AU    DILA'TS    OV    VURGUJ. 

Alh'  MI  TH  KONGRa'cUJLET  UJ,  AZ  A  DH  MOST  SINSIRLI,  ON  AI 
ESTa'bLISMENT,  AND  RAPID  GRD©  OV  AH  "FDNDGRAFIK  KORESPONDIM 
SDSA'ETI  :"  IT  IZ,  UNKWE'SGUNABLI,  WUN  OV  AH  MDST  UJSFUL  ASDEIE'- 
SUNZ  AAT  Ka'rAKTURAZ  AU  PREZENT  DE.  NOTWIOSTANDIM  AU  SDSA'ETI 
HAZ  BIN  IN  EGZISTENS  BUT  TEN  MUN@S,  IT  OLREDI  BERZ  SUG  HA 
PROMIS,  AND  MANIFESTS  SD  MUG  E'NURJI,  TALENT,  AND  a'pTITUJD  FOR 
AH  WHRK  HWIG  IT  HAZ  UNDURTEKOLN, — AH  Re'fORMESUN    OV  UR  RlTIN 

and  Printed  Lamgwij, — aat  a  he'zitet  not  th  ekspre's  ma  furm 
bili'f,  aat  it  wil  prhv  efe'kgujal  for  ah  salvesun  ov  au  li'thruri 

WURLD    FROM    AH    BONDIJ    UNDHR    HWIG    IT    GRDNZ. 

"Nu©IM  HWOTEVHR  IZ  MDR  TH  BI  DIZA'rD,  OR  MDR  DILATFHL  AAN 
AH  LAT  OV  TRH©  :  FOR  IT  IZ  AH  SDRS  OV  WIZDUM.  HWEN  AU  MAND 
IZ  HARAST  WIA  OBSKUJ'rITI,  DISTRAKTED  BA  DHTS,  RENDURD  TORPID 
OR  SADIND  BA  IG'nDRANS  OR  FO'lSITIZ,  AND  TRH©  IMURJIZ  AZ  FROM 
A  DARK  ABl's,  IT  SANZ  FDRO  INSTANTe'nIUSLI,  LAK  AH  SUN  DISPURSIH 
MISTS  AND  VEPURZ,  OR  LAK  AU  DON  DISPELIM  AU  SEDZ  OF  DARKNES." 
PHRHa'pS  AER  IZ  NU0IM  MDR  FROT  WIA  ERHR,  AAN  AU  PREZENT  MDD  OV 
ALFABE'TIK  RATIM  :  AND  AI  IV3LZ  AAT  FLD  AERFRO'm  aR  INUJ'mU- 
RAB3L.  Dr-  PRISTLI  OBZU'RVZ,  "AI  IMPURFEKEUNZ  OF  OL  a'LFABETS, 
(AU  HIBRH  BA  ND  MINZ  EKSEPTED,)  SIM  TH  ARGUJ  AEM,  NOT  TH  HAV 
BIN  AH  PRODUKT  OV  DIVA'n  SKIL,  BUT  AU  RIZU  LT  OV  SUG  A  KONKURENS 
OV  a'kSIDENT  AND  GRA'JUJAL  IMPRHVMENT,  AZ  OL  HUJMAN  ARTS,  AND 
HWOT  W}  KOL  INVENSUNZ,  Q  AER  BUR©  TH  :  FOR  SU'RTINLI,  Al  AL' FA- 
BETS  IN  UJS,  BER  ND  MARKS  OV  AU  REGUJLa'rITI  OV  AU  WURKS  OV  NEGUR: 
AH  MDR  WI  KONSIDUR  AU  LATUR,  AH  MDR  RIZ3N   WI  SI  TH  ADMA'R  AER 

FACSIMILE    OF    FIRST    PAGE    PRINTED    IN    PHONETIC    SPELLING 

(1844) 


STEPHEN   PEARL   ANDREWS  87 

profoundly  interested  the  nation  were  occupying 
attention.  There  was  a  world's  Anti-Slavery 
Convention  in  London  in  the  autumn  of  1843,  and 
among  those  who  attended  from  America  was  the 
eminent  Abolitionist  Stephen  Pearl  Andrews  (1812- 
1886),  a  member  of  the  American  Bar,  a  linguist 
and  philologist  of  no  small  attainments,  and  the 
inventor  of  a  universal  language  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  "  Alwato."  He  addressed  a  meeting 
in  London,  and  thus  describes  what  followed,  when 
he  descended  from  the  platform  : — 

Somebody,  I  never  knew  who,  pressed  into  my  hands  a 
package  of  books  and  pamphlets,  and  whispered  to  me  an 
earnest  request  that  I  would  examine  them  and  use  my 
influence  to  get  the  subject  of  which  they  treated  introduced 
to  the  American  public.  On  my  return  to  my  lodgings 
I  partially  examined  the  package,  and  for  the  first  time  saw 
the  name  of  Isaac  Pitman,  and  the  words  Phonography  and 
Phono typy.  I  was  too  busy  to  give  the  matter  more  attention 
then,  and  carelessly  threw  the  package  into  my  trunk  with 
other  documents.  It  was  not  until  I  was  on  my  way  home, 
on  the  steamer,  that  I  fairly  opened  the  package  and  examined 
it.  Years  before  in  New  Orleans  I  had  discovered  the  irregu- 
larities of  English  orthography,  and  resolved  some  time 
to  devote  myself  to  reforming  it.  There  I  found  the  same 
idea,  before  wholly  my  own,  already  under  way,  and  it 
interested  me  profoundly.  It  was  the  Spelling  Reform 
Branch,  and  only  in  a  very  secondary  way,  at  first,  Phono- 
graphy, which  fixed  my  attention.  I  made  the  study  of  the 
two,  however,  my  main  business  on  the  voyage.  Landing 
in  Boston,  I  found  myself  a  good  deal  of  a  lion  there.  .  .  . 
I  became  a  lecturing  agent  for  the  Massachusetts  liberty 
party,  but  at  the  same  time  I  resolved  to  become  a  propa- 
gandist of  the  Pitmanian  project  in  this  country.  I  estab- 
lished my  headquarters  at  21  School  Street,  Boston,  second 


88  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

floor,  front  room,  with  its  bow  window,  from  which  locality 
the  new  phonetic  gospel  was  first  promulgated  to  Americans. 
I  availed  myself  of  my  notoriety  with  the  Press  to  crowd  on 
the  public  the  most  enthusiastic  accounts  of  Mr.  Pitman's 
great  discovery,  and  advertised  for  pupils. 

Mr.  Andrews  soon  had  a  large  band  of  American 
students  and  disciples.  At  the  start  he  put  himself 
in  communication  with  Isaac  Pitman,  who,  he 
observes,  "  Backed  me  very  nobly,  giving  his  books 
freely  or  selling  them  at  cost.  He  must  have 
invested  many  thousand  dollars  beyond  actual 
returns  in  planting  this  American  branch  of  the 
movement/'  In  1844  Mr.  Andrews  produced  at 
Boston  the  first  American  instruction  book 
published  on  the  Pitmanic  system. 

In  the  following  year  (1845),  Phonography 
became  associated  with  the  Free  Trade  movement. 
There  was  an  Anti-Corn  Lav/  Bazaar  at  Covent 
Garden  Theatre,  London,  on  12th  May,  when  the 
claims  of  Phonography  were  brought  prominently 
before  the  notice  of  those  who  attended  by  a 
supply  of  special  literature  at  one  of  the  stalls. 
At  the  end  of  this  year  an  Anti-Corn  Law  Demon- 
stration was  held  at  Bath.  Isaac  Pitman  attended 
a  public  meeting  in  the  Guildhall  and  reported  the 
speech  of  Richard  Cobden  for  the  Bath  Journal. 
There  were  in  the  printing  office  of  this  news- 
paper several  compositors  who  had  been  instructed 
in  Phonography  by  its  Inventor,  and  he  determined 
to  try  an  experiment  which  was  at  that  time 
quite    unique,    and   is    described    in    the    Bath 


2?aw2ed  ty  Jfi.J&  ert,c . 


^A(0    FH14M 


1NVENTER     O  V      FONOGRAF 


£n,gra.ved  by  WDenrus 


(2^&J£&faz,  (7?s~ 


'3/7tifa7z/cvrid'  G^tr/z&ruMy 


tfa**&>/<?46 


COBDEN'S   SPEECH  89 

Journal  of  8th  December,  1845,  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

In  connection  with  the  report  of  the  excellent  addresses, 
delivered  at  the  great  demonstration  on  Thursday  of  the 
opinions  of  a  very  large  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Bath, 
which  will  be  found  in  our  columns  this  week,  we  would  call 
the  attention  of  our  readers  to  a  fact  indicative  of  Reform  in 
other  matters  as  well  as  in  the  Corn  Laws.  By  the  kindness 
of  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman  of  this  city,  whose  systems  of  writing  and 
printing  by  sound  have  made  such  astonishing  progress  in  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  we  are  enabled  to  give  a  nearly  verbatim 
report  of  the  excellent  speech  of  R.  Cobden,  Esq.,  which  our 
compositors  have  set  up  from  Mr.  Pitman's  phonographic 
notes,  there  being  no  necessity  for  their  transcription.  With 
all  other  systems  of  shorthand  writing,  not  only  was  there 
never  known  such  a  thing  as  a  reporter  passing  over  to  the 
compositor  his  notes  of  a  speech  an  hour  and  a  quarter  in 
delivery,  but  he  is  often  unable  to  decipher  them  himself. 
All  that  was  necessary  in  this  case,  Mr.  Pitman  has  assured 
us,  was  to  give  the  speech  one  reading  the  next  morning,  and 
fill  in  a  few  vowels.  We  are  convinced  that  we  shall  in  a  few 
years,  by  this  invaluable  system,  save  all  that  immense  amount 
of  toil  which  our  present  reporters  have  to  undergo  in 
deciphering  and  transcribing  their  notes  for  the  press.  * 

For  various  reasons  the  anticipations  of  the 
writer  of  the  above  notice  have  not  been  realized. 
The  first  and  most  important  cause  why  they  have 
not  is  that  it  is  hardly  ever  possible  for  the  speech 
of  any  speaker,  even  when  reported  fully,  to  be 
presented  to  the  public  without  receiving  a  certain 


1  At  this  time  a  portrait  in  oils  of  Isaac  Pitman  at  the  age  of  32 
was  painted  by  Mr.  J.  B.  (afterwards  Colonel)  Keene,  son  of  the 
then  Editor  of  the  Bath  Journal,  and  one  of  the  earliest  writers  of 
Phonography.  A  steel  engraving  was  produced  of  this  portrait,  an 
impression  from  which  faces  this  page. 


90  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

amount  of  "  editing "  from  the  reporter.  But 
with  the  present  general  knowledge  of  Phono- 
graphy, much  newspaper  and  book  "  copy  "  might 
be  written  in  shorthand,  and  a  great  saving  of  time 
and  labour  effected. 

Phonography  at  this  period  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  two  poets,  James  Montgomery  and  Bernard 
Barton  ;  the  former  manifested  his  friendship  for 
the  new  art,  the  latter  his  hostility  to  it.  Both 
expressed  their  thoughts  in  poetry,  and  brief 
extracts  from  their  respective  utterances  will 
indicate  their  views.  James  Montgomery,  when 
the  system  was  introduced  to  his  notice  by  Messrs. 
Joseph  Pitman  and  Reed,  gave  them  a  practical 
dictation  test,  and  satisfied  himself  as  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  new  system.  At  one  of  their 
meetings  held  in  the  Cutlers'  Hall,  Sheffield,  on 
28th  February,  1844,  he  recited  from  the  chair  a 
poem  which  opened  thus  : — 

Mind  is  invisible,  yet  when  we  write, 
That  world  of  mystery  comes  forth  to  sight ; 
In  vocal  speech,  the  idle  air  breathes  sense, 
And  empty  sound  becomes  intelligence. 
PHONETIC  ART  hath  both  these  modes  outdone, 
By  blending  sounds  and  symbols  into  one. 
Take  one  step  more,  and  science  may  define 
How  spirits  discourse  without  a  word  or  sign  ; 
And  teach  mankind  their  feelings  to  impart, 
Unseen,  unheard,  by  pulses  of  the  heart ; 
While  souls  by  sympathy  the  world  embrace, 
And  hold  communion,  free  of  time  and  place  ; 
Or,  unembodied,  with  survivors  keep 
Sweet  intercourse,  both  when  we  wake  or  sleep, 


BERNARD   BARTONS   EPISTLE       91 

Glorious,  and  good,  and  wonderful  such  powers  ! 
And  who  shall  say  they  never  can  be  ours  ? 
They're  ours  already  in  the  parent  root, 
The  stem,  the  branch,  the  flower, — and  then,  why  not 
the  fruit  ? 

Bernard  Barton  penned  a  tirade  against  Phono- 
graphy at  the  time  Isaac  Pitman  visited  Ipswich 
to  attend  a  phonographic  soiree  in  1845.  In 
"An  Epistle  to  a  Phonetic  Friend  ;  or,  A  Few 
Words  on  Phonography/'  prefaced  by  the 
quotation, 

A  thing  of  sound  (not  fury) 
Signifying  nothing, 

appeared  the  following  amusing  lines  : — 

The  New  System  saves  much  time.     Indeed  ! 
Must  we  then  write,  read,  spell,  by  rail-road  speed  ? 
'Tis  bad  enough,  whene'er  we  go  abroad, 
That  fire  and  smoke  must  urge  us  on  our  road, 
And,  for  the  music  of  the  birds  and  spheres, 
To  have  that  horrid  whistle  din  our  ears  ; 
Must  we  not  ride,  alone,  as  if  we  flew, 
But  the  same  haste  adopt  in  all  we  do  ? 
"  More  haste  worse  speed'1 — The  proverb  still  holds  true  ! 

I  wish  that  Pitman,  Reed,  and  all  their  crew, 
Or  better  taste,  or  better  manners  knew  ; 
To  one  accustomed  to  the  olden  lore 
Their  boasted  System  is  a  dreadful  bore, 
Though  trumpeted,  with  empty  acclamation, 
A  Reading,  Writing,  Printing  Reformation  ! 
Misses  and  masters  in  six  lessons  taught 
What  a  life's  labour  to  our  fathers  brought ; 
Can  write  in  shorthand,  or  like  parrots  speak, 
Chaldee  or  Coptic,  Sanscrit,  Hebrew,  Greek  ; 
But  the  sum  total  of  this  parrot  lore, 
Appeals  to  sight  and  sound,  and  little  more. 


92  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

This  attack  on  Phonography  provoked  several 
rejoinders,  Isaac  Pitman  replied  in  prose,  and 
there  were  four  poetic  answers,  one  of  which  was 
composed  by  Mr  Reed.  Mr  John  Dallenger 
headed    his     reply    with    an     apt     parody    of 

Barton  : — 

Phonography  her  simple  page 

Impartially  unfolding, 
Prohibits  neither  saint  nor  sage 

Its  beauties  from  beholding. 

In  the  course  of  his  reply  he  thus  retorted  on  the 
Quaker  poet  : — 

I  wish  Phonographers  may  soon  subdue 
All  snarling  critics,  and  the  satirist  crew  ; 
When  vulgar  prejudice  shall  vote  no  more 
A  perfect  system  as  a  dreadful  bore  ; 
But  Poets  hail,  with  joyous  acclamation, 
This  truly  splendid  Writing  Reformation  ; 
And  future  ages  shall,  in  truth,  be  brought 
To  estimate  the  system  Pitman  taught ; 
Write  in  its  praise,  and  of  its  beauties  speak, 
In  sterling  English — not  in  Poet's  Greek ; 
For  Poets  cite  the  tongues,  to  show  their  lore, 
And  know  as  much  as  parrots — little  more. 

Several  other  literary  men  and  many  journalists 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  new  method  of 
writing,  and  in  some  instances  learned  Phono- 
graphy. Dr.  Robert  Chambers,  whose  first 
acquaintance  with  the  art  is  noticed  in  Chapter  VI, 
not  only  learned  it  but  wrote  an  article  on  it  in 
Chambers's  Journal  of  5th  October,  1844,  which 
proved  of  great  service  to  the  movement.     Some 


SIR  ROWLAND  HILL'S  TESTIMONY   93 

journalists  were  favourable  and  some  distinctly 
hostile,  and  there  were  about  this  time  challenges 
and  contests  which  provoked  a  great  deal  of 
interest  and  possibly  amusement.  The  extrava- 
gance of  language  of  certain  champions  of 
Phonography,  who  seemed  to  regard  it  as  nothing 
short  of  a  new  dispensation,  led  the  Rev.  Edward 
Bickersteth  (father  of  Dr.  Bickersteth,  sometime 
Bishop  of  Exeter),  in  his  book  entitled  "  The 
Promised  Glory  of  the  Church/'  to  class  Phono- 
graphy with  other  things  which  he  denounced  as 
"  stalking  horses  behind  which  the  most  Satanic 
lies  and  the  most  absurd  blasphemies  are  sent  forth 
against  the  Word  of  God  !  "  The  rev.  gentleman 
received  an  assurance  that  nothing  was  further 
from  the  thoughts  of  its  Inventor,  at  any  rate, 
than  to  dishonour  the  Divine  Word,  and  Mr. 
Bickersteth  readily  withdrew  Phonography  from 
the  black  list  in  the  second  edition  of  his  book. 

The  Post  Office  Reformer,  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir) 
Rowland  Hill,  whose  father  had  two  years  before 
shown  his  interest  in  the  movement  (see  Chap. 
VII)  presided  at  a  phonographic  soiree  held  in  the 
Town  Hall,  Brighton,  on  28th  February,  1845,  in 
connection  with  the  visit  of  Messrs.  Joseph  Pitman 
and  Reed.  In  lamenting  the  fact  of  our  cumbrous 
system  of  orthography,  Rowland  Hill  said  : — 

'I  therefore  attach  very  great  importance  to 
attempts  such  as  these  made  by  the  Messrs. 
Pitman  to  improve  and  reform  our  writing  and 
printing." 


94  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

In  association  with  phonographic  correspon- 
dence, manuscript  magazines  written  in  shorthand 
were  started  in  1840,  when  the  first  of  the  kind, 
called  the  "  Family  Messenger,"  circulated  among 
the  nine  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  Pitman  family 
then  resident  in  England.  This  production  was 
of  very  small  size,  in  order  that  it  might  go  through 
the  post  in  a  half  ounce  letter  for  a  penny  postage. 
In  1844  the  number  of  these  magazines  in  circula- 
tion among  phonographers  was  fairly  large,  and 
they  then  received  the  distinctive  name  of 
Evercirculators. 

By  the  end  of  1845  the  Phonographic 
Corresponding  Society  was  receiving  large  acces- 
sions of  members,  and  Isaac  Pitman  deemed  it 
advisable  that  those  who  desired  membership 
in  future  should,  as  a  preliminary  to  enrolment, 
submit  a  specimen  of  their  Phonography. 


IX 

A    DEPARTURE    IN    PRINTING    AND    PUBLISHING — 
MR.   A.    J.    ELLIS   AND   THE    "  1847   ALPHABET  " 

1845-1848 

At  the  Ipswich  soiree  held  on  14th  May,  1845, 
when  Mr.  Robert  Ransome  and  Mr.  W.  D.  Sims 
were  among  the  speakers  who  bore  eloquent  testi- 
mony to  the  value  of  Phonography,  Isaac  Pitman 
gave  a  long  address  on  the  origin  and  development 
of  his  system.  Some  of  the  more  important  state- 
ments and  facts  contained  in  that  speech  have 
been  reproduced  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  the 
present  narrative,  but  his  remarks  on  that  occasion 
contained  some  interesting  facts  bearing  on  the 
extent  of  the  movement  in  1845,  which  will  be 
appropriately  noticed  here.  Isaac  Pitman  in- 
formed his  Ipswich  audience  that  from  the  Institu- 
tion at  Bath  he  was  sending  out  seven  hundred- 
weight of  books  per  month,  and  was  receiving  ten 
thousand  phonographic  letters  a  year.  Ten  lec- 
turers were  constantly  employed  in  teaching  the 
system,  and  over  a  thousand  members  of  the 
Phonographic  Corresponding  Society  were  engaged 
in  its  private  dissemination.  Phonography  was  now 
in  the  Seventh  Edition  \  many  improvements  had 
been  made  in  its  presentation  as  new  editions  were 
called  for,  and  it  was  abundantly  evident,  if  we 
may  use  a  colloquial  expression,  that  it  had  come  to 

95 


96  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

stay.  Its  originator  saw  in  all  these  evidences  of 
appreciation  of  his  work  proof  that  it  had  become 
a  "  national  movement/ '  and  he  was  justified  in 
that  assumption.  With  the  practical  sagacity 
which  was  a  striking  feature  of  his  character,  he 
perceived  that  in  order  to  provide  most  successfully 
for  what  would,  in  all  probability,  be  an  ever- 
growing demand  for  the  books  and  periodicals 
connected  with  the  phonographic  art,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  on  his  experiments  in  phono- 
typy,  it  was  essential  that  he  should  have  a 
printing  establishment  under  his  own  direction. 

Accordingly,  in  December,  1845,  the  Inventor 
of  Phonography  set  up  his  first  printing  press  at 
his  residence,  and  henceforward  his  many  publica- 
tions in  ordinary  letterpress  with  woodcut  short- 
hand illustrations,  and  in  phonotypy,  bore  the  im- 
print 5  Nelson  Place.  Writing  in  1852  Isaac  Pitman 
observed  that  those  who  had  seen  some  of  the 
millions  of  books  and  papers  printed  at  that 
address  "  will  learn  with  astonishment  that  (from 
1845)  the  whole  business  of  the  Writing  and  Print- 
ing Reform,  so  far  as  the  production  of  English 
books  was  concerned,  was,  until  March,  1848, 
carried  on  in  two  rooms — a  long  one  on  the  ground 
floor,  measuring  34  ft.  by  12  ft.  for  the  compositors 
and  bookbinders,  and  a  small  room  underground 
(adjoining  the  kitchen,  and  commonly  termed  the 
housekeeper's  room)  just  large  enough  to  take  a 
printing  press.  .  .  .  During  the  winter  of 
1849-50,  eighteen  persons  were  engaged  in  these 


THE  LONDON  DEPOT  97 

two  rooms,  sixteen  in  the  compositors*  and  binders' 
room,  and  two  in  the  press  room.  When  it  is 
considered  that  all  the  stock  of  books  and  paper, 
as  well  as  the  men  and  tools  had  to  be  crowded 
into  this  place,  it  may  be  said  that  the  Reform  was 
projected,  and  successfully  carried  on  for  seven 
years — reckoning  from  January,  1844,  when 
phonetic  printing  first  appeared  in  the  Journal — 
in  a  bee-hive/' 

The  narrative  quoted  above  is  the  earliest 
account  we  have  from  the  pen  of  Isaac  Pitman 
concerning  his  Institute  and  staff.  From  a  later 
statement  of  his  we  learn  that  a  third  room  in  his 
home  was  afterwards  devoted  to  the  business  of 
the  Reform. 

Changes  in  regard  to  the  London  publishing 
arrangements  occurred  almost  simultaneously 
with  the  alterations  in  production  at  Bath. 
Messrs.  Bagster  &  Sons  found  that  the  handling 
of  the  phonographic  publications  interfered  with 
their  Bible  publishing  at  No.  15  Paternoster  Row. 
They  accordingly  in  1845  opened  a  shop  at  No.  1 
Queen's  Head  Passage,  adjoining  their  establish- 
ment in  the  Row,  and  here  the  phonographic  books 
and  periodicals  were  published.  The  name  of 
Bagster  was  for  the  future  omitted  from  the 
phonographic  books,  and  the  new  place  of  publica- 
tion was  designated  the  "  Phonographic  and 
Phonotypic  Depot."  In  1846  Mr.  Benn  Pitman 
took  charge  of  the  "  Depot,"  assisted  by  his 
two    younger  brothers.     In    the    following   year 

7— (2284) 


98  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Mr.  Frederick  Pitman,  then  but  nineteen  years 
old,  superintended  the  business.  About  the  time 
that  he  came  of  age  (October,  1849),  Mr.  Frederick 
Pitman  took  No.  20  Paternoster  Row,  set  up  in 
business  on  his  own  account  as  a  publisher,  and 
from  this  time  to  his  death  was  the  publisher  of 
his  brother  Isaac's  phonographic  books  and 
periodicals.  "  Some  risk/'  Mr.  Reed  says,  "  was 
expected  to  attend  the  experiment  apart  from  the 
Messrs.  Bagster,  with  whose  house  Phonography 
had  been  identified  for  nine  years,  but  the  result 
amply  justified  the  change.  Here,  as  at  Queen's 
Head  Passage,  Mr.  Fred.  Pitman  was  assisted  by 
his  father,  Mr.  Samuel  Pitman,  who,  in  his  old  age, 
had  the  satisfaction  of  witnessing  the  success  of 
his  sons,  and  giving  them  the  benefit  of  his  co- 
operation. Those  who  visited  the  depot  in  those 
days  will  not  forget  the  shrewd  and  sagacious 
sayings  and  doings  of  Pitman  pere,  who  was 
for  some  years  a  well-known  character  in  the 
Row." 

In  1845  a  Phonetic  Council,  which  had  been 
organized  some  little  time  previously,  was  engaged 
in  deliberations  on  various  points  in  relation  to  the 
phonotypic  alphabet.  Isaac  Pitman  was  the 
President  of  this  body,  and  of  the  twelve  members 
Mr.  Ellis  was  incomparably  the  most  distinguished 
as  a  scholar,  a  phonetician,  and  an  author.  His 
contributions  to  the  Journal  during  this  period 
were  among  the  ablest  and  most  convincing 
arguments  on  behalf  of  phonetic  spelling  that 


THE   PHONOTYPIC  ALPHABET       99 

have  ever  appeared.  In  addition  to  works  such 
as  "  The  Alphabet  of  Nature,"  and  "  A  Plea  for 
Phonotypy  and  Phonography,  or  Speech- writing/ ' 
Mr.  Ellis  was  the  author  of  adaptations  of  Phono- 
graphy to  no  less  than  fourteen  languages,  living 
and  dead.  "  His  scholarship,"  as  Mr.  Reed 
observes,  "  was  a  great  acquisition  to  the  cause." 
With  the  aid  of  subscriptions,  a  complete  long 
primer  phonotypic  fount  of  type  had  been  pro- 
duced (followed  later  on  by  larger  and  smaller 
sizes),  and  one  of  the  first  uses  to  which  Isaac 
Pitman  put  the  new  type  was  to  begin  the  printing 
of  a  "  Phonotypic  Bible,"  but  when  the  publication 
had  proceeded  serially  as  far  as  Exodus  XX,  the 
printing  was  stopped,  owing  to  changes  which 
had  been  introduced  in  the  vowel  notation  of 
phonotypy,  and  all  that  had  been  produced 
became  so  much  waste  paper.  Innumerable 
phonotypic  experiments,  both  before  and  after 
this  time,  were  submitted  to  the  Phonetic  Council, 
but  in  June,  1846,  the  "  Absolute  Completion  of 
the  Phonotypic  Alphabet "  was  announced  in 
these  terms  : — 

"  Messrs.  Pitman  and  Ellis  distinctly  pledge 
themselves  not  to  make  any  further  alterations  in 
the  forms  or  uses  of  the  letters  of  the  practical 
Phonotypic  Alphabet  of  the  English  language  given 
in  this  number  of  the  Journal,  or  in  the  theory 
upon  which  it  is  founded.  Whatever  books  they 
publish  in  Phonotypy  will  be  printed  in  accordance 
with  this  alphabet  and  no  other." 


100  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

This  decision  was  arrived  at  after  experiments 
extending  over  three  years.  A  few  slight  improve- 
ments in  the  Pitman-Ellis  alphabet  were  intro- 
duced within  the  next  eighteen  months  by  Isaac 
Pitman  and  the  Phonetic  Council.  During  this 
period  Mr.  Ellis  was  residing  in  Germany,  but  by 
the  end  of  1847  he  had  returned  to  England,  and 
came  to  reside  at  No.  4  Lansdown  Crescent,  Bath, 
with  the  design  of  taking  a  leading  part  in  a 
movement  for  bringing  the  new  spelling  before  the 
nation  in  a  fashion  not  hitherto  attempted. 

The  initial  step  in  this  change  was  announced  in 
a  notice  which  appeared  in  the  Phonotypic  Journal 
at  the  end  of  1847.  Isaac  Pitman  informed  the 
readers  of  his  retirement  from  the  control  of  the 
Journal  he  had  created,  and  the  contemplated 
appearance  in  1848  of  a  new  series,  with  the  title 
of  the  Phonetic  Journal,  under  the  editorship  of 
Mr.  Ellis.  The  announcement  closed  with  the 
intimation  that  "  It  gives  Mr.  Pitman  much 
pleasure  to  think  that  all  these  experiments  have 
been  commenced  and  brought  to  a  satisfactory 
termination  while  the  Journal  was  under  his 
management. "  The  phonotypy  thus  referred  to 
became  known  in  subsequent  years  as  "  the 
1847  alphabet." 

In  pursuance  of  this  project  Mr.  Ellis  in  Novem- 
ber, 1847,  purchased  the  printing  plant  used  in 
the  production  of  the  Journal,  and  took  over  the 
composing  staff  at  Nelson  Place.  In  March,  1848, 
he  removed  the  printing  establishment  to  larger 


THE   "PHONETIC   JOURNAL"        101 

premises  at  Albion  Place,  in  the  Upper  Bristol 
Road,  Bath.  Mr.  Reed  states  that  "  One  of  the 
conditions  of  the  purchase  was  that  Isaac  Pitman 
was  to  have  the  joint  use  of  the  office  and  plant, 
paying  5  per  cent  on  the  cost  of  production  for 
wear  and  tear."  He  was  also  to  edit  the  "  Intelli- 
gence "  department  of  the  new  series  of  the 
Journal. 

In  the  first  number  of  the  Phonetic  Journal  for 
1848,  Mr.  Ellis  described  at  length  the  origin  of 
the  phonetic  alphabet,  and  his  narrative  includes 
a  passage  of  considerable  historical  and 
biographical  interest,  as  follows  : — 

The  alphabet  was  reduced  to  a  satisfactory  working  state 
in  January,  1847.  So  many  persons  have  taken  part  in  bring- 
ing the  alphabet  to  its  present  state  of  perfection  that  it  is 
impossible  to  name  any  one  as  the  sole  inventor.  To  Mr.  Isaac 
Pitman,  of  Bath,  unquestionably  belongs  the  merit  of  the  idea, 
and  of  the  practical  form  in  which  a  Phonetic  system  of 
spelling  was  so  cleverly  clothed  even  in  the  earliest  editions  of 
his  system  of  Phonography,  the  success  of  which  alone  could 
have  paved  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  Phonetic  Printing. 
The  first  form  of  the  Phonetic  Printing  Alphabet,  and  the 
determination  to  use  a  variation  of  the  Roman  alphabet,  are 
also  entirely  his  ;  but  most  of  the  letters  were  invented,  and 
the  theory  of  their  use  laid  down  in  conjunction  with  the 
Editor  of  this  Journal,  who  had  occupied  himself  with  phonetic 
investigations  and  attempts  at  forming  a  universal  alphabet 
for  several  years  before  he  had  heard  of  Mr.  Pitman's  labours 
on  the  same  ground,  and  who  has  taken  an  active  part  in  all 
the  experiments  and  investigations  made  since  August,  1843, 
when  accident  first  made  him  acquainted  with  Phonography. 
He  eventually  became  the  chief  proposer  of  further  experi- 
ments, and  starter  of  theories  on  which  to  found  them,  while 
Mr.  Pitman  with  unparalleled  industry,  and  perseverance, 


102  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

and  practical  tact,  worked  them  out,  and  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  bringing  their  merits  to  the  test  of  experience. 
The  improvements  in  the  theory  on  which  the  alphabet  was 
first  formed,  and  its  extension  to  embrace  Foreign  Sounds, 
both  in  Phonetic  Printing,  and  Phonetic  Short  Hand,  are  also 
entirely  the  work  of  Mr.  Ellis.  During  the  last  two  years  of 
experiments,  much  assistance  in  reducing  the  printing  alphabet 
to  a  practical  working  form  has  been  derived  from  the  labours 
of  the  Members  who  compose  the  Societies,  called  the  General 
Phonetic  and  Executive  Council,  and  the  Phonographic 
Corresponding  Society,  so  that  the  English  Phonetic  Alphabet, 
both  in  its  short  hand  and  its  printing  forms,  must,  when 
completed — and  we  hope  that  we  now  lay  it  before  our  readers 
in  a  complete  form — like  most  great  practical  inventions,  be 
rather  regarded  as  the  growth  of  time,  than  the  sole  work  of 
one  or  two  individuals.  And  although  it  may,  with  great 
justice,  be  called  the  joint  invention  of  Isaac  Pitman  and 
Alexander  John  Ellis,  yet,  as  great  inventions  take  their  name 
from  those  who  first  started  and  gave  a  practical  form  to  the 
idea,  even  though  the  completion  of  their  inventions  may 
have  been  wholly  or  partially  the  work  of  others,  future 
generations  must  look  up  to  Isaac  Pitman  the  inventor  of  Phonetic 
Short  Hand,  as  the  Father  of  English  Phonetic  Spelling. 

The  italics  are  Mr.  Ellis's.  He  conducted  the 
Journal  for  just  a  year,  and  then  discontinued  it 
under  circumstances  which  will  be  described  in 
our  next  chapter. 

Apart  from  phonotypy,  Isaac  Pitman  was 
engaged  in  several  not  inconsiderable  enterprises 
during  this  period.  His  "  History  of  Shorthand," 
the  most  popular  and  comprehensive  survey 
of  stenographic  invention  in  ancient  and  modern 
times,  first  appeared  serially  in  the  Journal 
in  1847.  Since  that  date  it  has  been  published 
several   times   in   book   form,   with   considerable 


GEORGE  DAWSON  103 

additions.  At  the  end  of  1846  he  completed,  as  a 
supplement  to  the  "  Ipswich  Phono-Press  "  .  (a 
shorthand  magazine  produced  by  lithography), 
the  first  "  Phonographic  Dictionary  of  the  English 
Language,  containing  the  most  usual  words,  to  the 
number  of  twelve  thousand/ '  This  work  was 
also  greatly  expanded  and  improved  in  later  years. 
There  were  two  notable  utterances  on  phonetic 
shorthand  writing  and  printing  at  this  time.  The 
first  was  an  able  and  appreciative  review  of  Isaac 
Pitman's  labours  which  appeared  in  the  Athenceum 
on  19th  December,  1846.  The  second  was  a 
speech  by  Mr.  George  Dawson,  the  minister  of  the 
Church  of  the  Saviour  at  Birmingham,  and  widely 
known  as  a  popular  lecturer,  who  presided  at  a 
phonographic  gathering  at  Birmingham  on  24th 
August,  1847.  He  mentioned  incidentally  that 
his  chief  secretary  (he  was  referring  to  Mrs. 
Dawson)  wrote  a  different  system  of  shorthand  to 
that  which  he  himself  employed.  "  We  have 
therefore  agreed/'  he  added,  "  to  throw  away  the 
two  old  systems  and  take  to  the  new  one  !  "  With 
prophetic  instinct  he  remarked  that  "  Phono- 
graphy being  first  undeniably  good  in  itself,  and 
then  its  advantages  being  based  on  the  highest 
principle  man  knows — duty — it  will  succeed." 


X 

"  THE   PHONETIC   NEWS  M    AND   WHAT  FOLLOWED 

1849-1850 

The  appearance  of  the  first  number  of  the  Phonetic 
News  on  the  6th  January,  1849,  was  the  most 
notable  event  in  the  history  of  the  Spelling  Reform 
movement  of  the  last  century.  For  the  first  five 
months  of  the  year,  and  for  the  greater  part  of  that 
time  every  Saturday  morning,  there  was  issued 
under  the  title  mentioned  above  a  twelve-page 
newspaper  very  similar  in  size  and  style  to  the 
weekly  newspapers  of  that  period,  but  produced 
from  phonetic  printing  type.  Mr.  Ellis  conducted 
the  paper  with  conspicuous  ability.  He  did  not 
make  it  the  organ  of  either  political  party,  but  the 
Parliamentary  and  other  great  reforms  which  were 
at  that  time  before  the  country  were  either  advo- 
cated or  favourably  noticed.  All  kinds  of  news, 
home  and  foreign,  was  given  in  reformed  spelling. 
Every  number  had  in  a  prominent  place  a  state- 
ment in  the  ordinary  orthography  treating  of  the 
necessity  and  advantages  of  a  reformed  spelling, 
with  an  explanation  of  the  1847  phonetic  alphabet, 
in  which  the  News  was  printed. 

The  Phonetic  News  brought  the  Spelling  Reform 
very  much  under  the  notice  of  the  country.  Mr. 
Reed  has  borne  testimony  that  it  "  drew  public 
attention  to  the  anomalies  of  English  spelling,  and 

104 


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"  PUNCH  "  105 

the  necessity  of  a  change,  in  quarters  to  which 
previous  publications  had  rarely,  if  ever,  obtained 
access/ '  The  Westminster  Review ,  which  was  then 
a  power  in  the  land  as  an  organ  of  liberal  thought, 
devoted  thirty  pages  of  its  April  issue  to  "  The 
English  Spelling  Reform/ '  its  remarks  being 
suggested  by  Mr.  Ellis's  writings,  and  more  particu- 
larly by  the  appearance  of  the  Phonetic  News. 
The  article  was  of  a  very  appreciative  and  encour- 
aging character,  but  the  new  organ  of  Spelling 
Reform  had  at  an  earlier  date  been  somewhat 
caustically  criticized  in  Punch,  which  friends  of  the 
reform  were  disposed  to  think  a  little  remarkable 
for  the  following  reason.  In  conversation  with 
Hepworth  Dixon,  one  of  the  best  known  contribu- 
tors to  Punch,  namely  Douglas  Jerrold,  had 
approvingly  remarked,  "  It  is  one  of  my  reforms." 
Some  other  member  of  the  Punch  staff  (the  paper 
was  then  edited  by  Mark  Lemon)  was  probably 
responsible  for  the  article  which  characterized 
reformed  spelling  as  "  decidedly  the  most  insane 
thing  out  of  Bedlam."  Mr.  Ellis  took  criticism 
of  this  kind  with  perfect  good  humour,  and  con- 
troverted whatever  arguments  were  offered  against 
reformed  spelling  in  the  columns  of  his  own  News, 
and  in  the  much  derided  reformed  characters. 

Although  the  Phonetic  News  appealed  to  a  wide 
constituency,  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  was  calcu- 
lated to  help  the  movement  for  reformed  spelling 
so  effectively  as  the  smaller  periodicals  printed 
both  in  phonotypy  and  phonetic  shorthand,  which 


106  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Isaac  Pitman  had  been  issuing  for  some  years  in 
various  cheap  forms,  and  in  considerable  variety. 
The  Phonetic  News  was  published  at  the  weekly 
price  of  4£d.  stamped,  each  number  bearing  at 
the  bottom  right-hand  corner  of  its  front  page  the 
penny  red  stamp  which  was  a  familiar  feature  on 
our  newspapers  down  to  the  introduction  of 
half-penny  postage.  The  price  was  a  prohibitive 
one  for  a  propagandist  journal,  but  it  would 
appear  from  various  statements  in  its  pages 
that  there  must  have  been  a  large  gratuitous 
distribution. 

A  month  after  the  Phonetic  News  had  begun  to 
appear,  Isaac  Pitman  discovered  that  the  dis- 
continuance of  the  Phonetic  Journal  by  Mr.  Ellis 
at  the  end  of  1848,  left  the  Society  practically 
without  an  organ.  Though  it  was  true  that  a 
certain  amount  of  space  was  devoted  to  news  of  a 
phonographic  and  phonetic  character  in  the 
Phonetic  News,  yet  as  Mr.  Ellis  published  his 
newspaper  not  as  the  organ  of  the  workers  in  the 
movement  but  rather  as  a  journal  appealing  to 
the  general  public,  it  was  inevitable  that  such 
matter  could  only  be  inserted  to  a  limited  extent. 
Isaac  Pitman  therefore  again  set  up  a  printing 
press  at  Nelson  Place.  In  March,  1849,  he 
resumed  the  publication  of  the  Phonotypic  Journal, 
which  henceforth  appeared  fortnightly  instead  of 
monthly,  as  was  previously  the  case.  In  his 
resuscitated  Journal  published  at  the  beginning 
of  May,  he  announced  the  failure  of  Mr.  Ellis's 


THE   "  PHONETIC  NEWS"  107 

effort  to  popularize  phonotypy  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

"  The  altogether  unexpected  and  regretful  * 
intelligence  has  just  been  communicated  to  us  by 
Mr.  Ellis  that  the  Phonetic  News  does  not  pay  its 
expenses,  and  that  it  will  therefore  give  place  to  a 
smaller  publication/  •  "  Deeply,"  he  went  on, 
"as  we  shall  regret  the  discontinuance  of  the 
phonetic  broad  sheet,  yet  we  cannot  but  acknow- 
ledge it  is  better  that  the  News  should  be  discon- 
tinued, than  that  the  proprietor  should  sustain  a 
heavy  loss  by  it.  Only  as  a  business  can  the 
Reform  now  succeed  ;  and  in  order  to  this,  the 
continued  exertions  of  the  members  of  the  rapidly 
increasing  Phonetic  Society  are  indispensable." 

In  this  year  the  Phonographic  Corresponding 
Society,  which  had  taken  such  a  considerable  share 
in  the  phonotypic  branch  of  the  movement,  was 
re-named  the  Phonetic  Society.  Under  this  new 
name,  as  the  years  passed,  it  gained  in  importance 
and  influence.  In  the  announcement  from  which 
we  have  quoted,  Isaac  Pitman  proceeded  to  refer 
to  the  services  which  his  co-worker  had  rendered 
to  the  Reform.  He  was  not  a  man  who  indulged 
in  idle  compliment,  and  therefore  when  he  speaks 
of  the  "  rare  generosity  "  of  Mr.  Ellis  in  giving  to 
the  Spelling  Reform  not  alone  his  scholarly 
advocacy,  invaluable  as  that  was,  but  also  no 
inconsiderable  portion  of  his  means,  we  may  feel 
assured  that  he  is  speaking  with  his  accustomed 
sincerity.    The  amount  which  Mr.  Ellis  lost  over 


108  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

his  "  too  sanguine "  enterprise — to  quote  Mr. 
Reed's  phrase — was  between  six  and  seven 
thousand  pounds. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  record,  however, 
that  there  is  no  note  of  despondency  or  disappoint- 
ment in  Mr.  Ellis's  valedictory  address  to  the 
readers  of  the  Phonetic  News,  although  his  health 
had  unfortunately  suffered  by  his  considerable 
literary  labours  in  connection  with  its  production. 
He  acknowledges  the  generous  way  in  which  those 
interested  in  reformed  spelling  had  subscribed 
towards  the  fund  for  type  matrices,  and  had  in 
various  ways  laboured  for  the  common  cause. 
"  It  would  be  very  wrong  and  very  ungrateful  in 
us,"  he  says,  "  to  overlook  those  who  have  so 
nobly,  disinterestedly,  and  indefatigably  worked 
for  us  in  the  cause  of  Spelling  Reform."  In  the 
first  rank  of  these  he  places  Isaac  Pitman,  and  he 
mentions  with  special  appreciation  the  services  of 
the  first  lecturer  on  phonetic  spelling  purely,  Isaac 
Pitman's  kinsman  Mr.  George  Withers,  and  in  a 
similar  capacity  his  brother  Mr.  Benn  Pitman. 
Finally  he  announces  the  publication  of  a  successor 
to  the  Phonetic  News  of  a  less  ambitious  character, 
to  be  entitled  the  Spelling  Reformer.  This 
periodical  appeared  on  the  15th  June  ;  in  all  eight 
numbers  were  published,  the  last  being  dated 
Friday,  18th  January,  1850.  In  this  issue  Mr. 
Ellis  regrets  that  in  obedience  to  the  strict  in- 
junction of  his  physician  he  is  obliged  to  intermit 
the  publication.     He  hopes  that  a  few  months' 


THE   "1847  ALPHABET  "  109 

perfect  repose  will  enable  him  to  resume  his 
attention  to  the  cause  of  the  Spelling  Reform  ;  he 
will  give  due  notice  of  the  resumption  of  the 
Spelling  Reformer  in  Isaac  Pitman's  Journal. 
But  that  notice  never  appeared.  At  the  end  of 
1850,  owing  to  his  continued  ill-health,  the 
Reformer  was  "  finally  abandoned/ ' 

Mr.  Ellis  removed  to  Clifton  directly  after  the 
Phonetic  News  was  discontinued,  and  his  phonetic 
type  (the  "  1847  alphabet ")  was  sent  to  a 
London  printing  establishment.  The  following 
announcement  was  at  this  time  made  by  Isaac 
Pitman  : — 

"  The  style  of  phonetic  spelling  employed  till 
towards  the  close  of  1848,  was  adopted  with  the 
mutual  consent  of  the  two  parties  who  had  the 
principal  share  of  the  labour  of  maturing  the 
alphabet.  Many  of  the  schemes  and  peculiar 
spellings  were,  however,  professedly  tried  as  mere 
experiments.  From  that  time  Mr.  Ellis  has 
assumed  the  entire  control  of  this  matter,  and  in 
consideration  of  the  large  sums  of  money  he  has 
invested  in  the  Reform,  we  intend  in  all  the 
phonetic  printing  we  send  out,  till  the  close  of  next 
year  (1850)  to  follow  the  system  laid  down  in  his 
Phonetic  Spelling  Rules/ ' 

In  accordance  with  the  intimation  quoted 
above,  a  very  different  phonetic  printing  alphabet 
was  in  due  course  introduced  in  the  books  published 
by  Isaac  Pitman,  of  which  he  was  practically  the 
sole  inventor.     But   with   recovered   health   Mr. 


110  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Ellis  issued  new  publications  in  the  alphabet  of  his 
choice,  until  his  phonetic  type  was  destroyed  in  a 
fire  at  the  office  of  his  London  printers.  He 
viewed  with  strong  disfavour  the  later  develop- 
ments of  phonotypy  at  Bath,  and  when  Isaac 
Pitman  approached  him  in  1853  with  an  appeal  for 
phonotypic  unity  by  his  acceptance  of  his  late 
colleague's  developments,  he  answered  briefly,  "  I 
have  no  inclination  to  propose  any  alteration  in 
the  1847  alphabet.' '  To  later  overtures  he  made 
practically  the  same  answer. 

Early  in  the  last  year  (1850)  of  Isaac  Pitman's 
labours  at  Nelson  Place,  he  printed  and  published 
the  largest  volume  which  had  yet  appeared  in 
reformed  spelling.  This  was  "  The  Holy  Bible, 
containing  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  according 
to  the  Authorized  Version.  Printed  Phonetically, 
in  Paragraphs  and  Parallelisms."  The  production 
was  in  the  form  of  a  handsome  demy  8vo  volume 
of  nearly  750  pages,  with  two  columns  of  matter 
on  each  page  in  minion  type.  A  vast  amount  of 
work  was  entailed  in  the  revision  of  the  translitera- 
tion and  in  the  correction  of  the  pages  for  the  press, 
but,  as  the  Preface  indicates,  this  was  with  its 
producer  a  labour  of  love.  The  actual  cost  of 
printing  and  binding  was  no  more  than  £200.  The 
edition  consisted  of  one  thousand  copies. 


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XI 

THE    INTERNATIONAL    EXHIBITION    AND 
EXETER  HALL — THE  SECOND  AND  THIRD  INSTITUTES 

1851-1856 

When  Mr.  Ellis  gave  up  his  printing  office  and  left 
Bath,  the  premises  known  as  No.  1  Albion  Place 
remained  unoccupied  for  something  like  eighteen 
months,  and  this  fact  led  to  the  dissemination  of 
a  statement  that  "  the  phonetic  printing  institu- 
tion at  Bath  had  ceased  to  exist,"  owing  to  the 
loss  sustained  by  Messrs.  Ellis  and  Pitman  over 
the  Phonetic  News  "  speculation.' '  Isaac  Pitman 
at  once  issued  a  statement  giving  the  actual  facts, 
and  showing  that  his  own  printing  and  binding 
establishment  at  Nelson  Place  had  been  engaged 
uninterruptedly  in  the  production  of  the  literature 
of  the  movement.  "  Our  own  printing  office/ ' 
he  wrote,  "  is  in  full  work,  and  employs  eighteen 
persons,  eleven  in  the  printing  department  and 
seven  in  the  binding  department.  In  addition  to 
this  force,  three  lithographic  presses  are  kept 
constantly  employed  upon  the  shorthand 
periodicals  and  other  works  at  the  large  litho- 
graphic establishment  of  Mr.  Hollway  in  this  city." 
Some  months  after  this,  in  January,  1851,  he 
rented  the  vacant  premises  at  Albion  Place,  which 
henceforward  became  the  second  Phonetic 
Institute. 

in 


112  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

The  first  of  May,  1851,  is  memorable  as  the  day 
which  witnessed  the  opening  of  the  Great  Exhibi- 
tion in  Hyde  Park.  There  have  been  many 
exhibitions  since  that  day,  but  none  have  so 
greatly  aroused  public  interest  as  this  pioneer 
enterprise.  In  his  Journal  published  on  the  date 
given  above,  Isaac  Pitman  answered  the  question, 
"  Will  the  arts  of  Phonography  and  Phonotypy  be 
found  in  the  Exhibition  ? "  with  an  emphatic 
affirmative.  Knowing  that  space  was  valuable, 
he  had  preferred  a  modest  request  for  one  square 
foot  of  counter  space  for  a  glass  case,  and  for 
twelve  square  feet  of  hanging  space  for  a  chart. 
What  was  asked  for  was  readily  granted ;  indeed, 
on  a  second  application,  twenty  square  feet  of 
hanging  space  was  obtained.  The  exhibit  took 
the  form  of  "  a  neat  piece  of  cabinet  work," 
consisting  of  a  mahogany  stand,  with  "  four 
tastefully  turned  and  twisted  pillars  supporting 
a  sloping  frame,"  in  which,  under  a  plate  glass 
cover  were  an  open  Phonetic  Bible  and  an  open 
Shorthand  New  Testament.  Other  phonetic 
books  and  a  copy  of  the  "  Manual  of  Phono- 
graphy," were  attached  to  the  stand,  and  under- 
neath was  a  supply  of  free  literature.  The  exhibit 
cost  £10,  and  an  appeal  was  made  to  all  interested 
in  the  Spelling  and  Writing  Reform  to  contribute 
to  a  fund  to  provide  a  supply  of  free  literature  at 
the  stand  while  the  Exhibition  was  open,  at  a 
cost  of  £50.  The  exhibit  was  awarded  a  bronze 
medal. 


EXETER  HALL  113 

During  the  summer  of  1851  people  thronged  to 
London  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  time 
was  therefore  an  especially  appropriate  one  for 
holding  in  the  metropolis  a  meeting  of  those 
interested  in  the  Reform.  Accordingly  on  the 
6th  August  what  was  known  as  the  London 
Phonetic  Soiree  was  held  in  the  Minor  Hall  of 
Exeter  Hall.  The  chair  was  taken  by  Mr.  James 
Simpson,  of  Accrington  (President  of  the  Vegeta- 
rian Society),  and  the  other  speakers  included 
Messrs.  Isaac  Pitman,  A.  J.  Ellis,  Benn  Pitman, 
and  T.  A.  Reed.  In  writing  about  the  meeting 
Isaac  Pitman  observed:  "In  that  room  met, 
for  the  first  time,  many  friends  who,  by  means 
of  correspondence  in  phonetic  shorthand,  had 
known  each  other  intimately  for  many  years, 
in  some  cases  for  eight  or  ten  years  !  It  was 
indeed  a  meeting  for  the  overflowing  of  affection, 
rather  than  for  exhibiting  the  bright  sparklings  of 
intellect/ '  But  for  all  that  the  speeches  were 
marked  by  a  vigorous  advocacy  of  the  objects  of 
the  Reform.  It  is  significant  that  the  London 
daily  papers  devoted  a  liberal  amount  of  space  to 
reports  of  the  meeting,  while  the  Morning 
Chronicle  gave  a  leader  on  it,  the  tone  of  which 
may  be  gathered  from  the  not  very  polite  designa- 
tion of  the  speeches  as  "  ex  parte  spouting/'  Mr. 
Reed  wrote  a  letter  in  reply,  which  demolished  a 
good  many  of  the  arguments  of  the  leader  writer. 
It  was  to  Mr.  Reed's  arrangements  that  the  success 
of  the  soiree  was  largely  due.     He  has  left  it  on 

8— (2384) 


114  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

record  that  some  difficulty  was  experienced  in 
obtaining  one  of  the  rooms  of  Exeter  Hall  for  the 
purpose  of  the  meeting.  "  The  movement  was 
looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  some  of  the  authori- 
ties/ '  and  he  says  that  he  "  well  remembers  the 
trouble  he  had  in  persuading  them  that  the 
proposed  reform  was  not  of  the  revolutionary 
character  attributed  to  it,  but  simply  a  means  of 
rendering  reading  and  writing  a  pleasure  rather 
than  a  toil." 

There  had  been  established  at  Preston  in  the 
previous  year,  as  the  outcome  of  a  visit  of  Messrs. 
Benn  and  Henry  Pitman,  a  Phonetic  Sunday  and 
Week  Evening  School  for  teaching  the  unlettered 
to  read  by  means  of  phonotypic  instruction  books, 
and  its  anniversary  was  commemorated  on  22nd 
September,  1851,  by  a  tea  party.  It  was  an- 
nounced that  "  many  who  were  totally  unable  to 
read  and  write  on  entering  the  school  are  now  well 
versed  in  these  indispensable  arts."  Isaac  Pitman 
attended  and  gave  an  eloquent  and  practical 
address,  and,  as  at  the  Exeter  Hall  meeting,  a 
resolution  was  passed  acknowledging  the  labours 
of  Mr.  Ellis  and  himself  in  promoting  the  Spelling 
Reform. 

Early  in  1852,  Mr.  John  Cassell,  the  founder  of 
the  well-known  publishing  house,  made  an  an- 
nouncement in  his  "  Popular  Educator/'  which  was 
then  making  its  first  appearance  in  weekly 
numbers,  that  the  subject  of  Phonography  would 
be  taken  up  in  it  in  due  course.     Isaac  Pitman's 


THE   "POPULAR   EDUCATOR  "       115 

attention  was  called  to  this  by  Mr.  John  H. 
Younghusband,  of  the  Liverpool  Institute  (an  able 
advocate  of  Phonography  by  voice  and  pen)  who 
favoured  the  idea,  and  some  correspondence 
followed  with  Mr.  Cassell.  The  last-named  pro- 
posed that  the  Inventor  of  Phonography  should 
prepare  a  course  of  lessons  for  the  new  serial,  "  to 
perfect  the  learner  in  the  phonographic  art  without 
a  master,"  and  that  such  course  "  for  such  sum 
as  may  be  agreed  upon  "  should  be  the  copyright 
of  the  proprietor  of  the ' '  Popular  Educator .' '  This 
proposal  Isaac  Pitman  declined  to  accept,  but  not 
exactly  on  the  ground  of  the  average  successful 
author.  If,  he  pointed  out,  he  did  not  need  the 
profits  arising  from  the  copyright  of  Phonography 
to  enable  him  to  bear  the  expenses  attending  the 
introduction  of  phonetic  printing,  he  would  will- 
ingly comply  with  the  request,  but  without  the 
profits  arising  from  the  sale  of  his  shorthand  books 
he  had  no  means  of  meeting  the  heavy  expenses  of 
continuing  phonetic  printing.  Mr.  Cassell  there- 
fore went  elsewhere  for  a  series  of  shorthand 
lessons,  and  secured  these  from  Mr.  Alexander 
Melville  Bell,  who  had  just  published  the  system 
associated  with  his  name  under  the  title  of  "  Steno- 
Phonography."  It  cannot  be  said  that  this  feature 
of  the  "Popular  Educator' '  was  a  success.  The 
firm  of  Messrs.  Cassell,  Petter  &  Galpin  ultimately 
decided  to  discontinue  it,  and  applied  to  Isaac 
Pitman  for  permission  to  give  lessons  in  Phono- 
graphy in  the  "  Educator/'  agreeing  to  the  terms 


116  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

which  had  been  offered  to  Mr.  John  Cassell  seven- 
teen years  before.  The  permission  was  readily 
given,  and  since  that  time  lessons  in  Pitman's 
Shorthand  have  been  a  leading  feature  in  the 
"  Educator  "  and  have  given  many  thousands  of 
young  people  their  first  introduction  to  the 
phonographic  art. 

During  the  years  1852  and  1853  the  recon- 
struction of  the  phonetic  printing  alphabet  was  the 
subject  of  innumerable  experiments  and  of  vigorous 
correspondence  on  the  part  of  advocates  of  rival 
proposals.  The  British  Phonetic  Council,  a  body 
of  fifty  phoneticians  (of  which  Mr.  Ellis  was 
President ;  Isaac  Pitman,  Editor ;  and  Mr.  C. 
Gahagan,  jun.,  Secretary),  was  very  actively 
engaged  at  this  period  in  giving  decisions  on 
various  points.  The  expenditure  with  the  type- 
founder over  these  experiments  was  very  consider- 
able— a  few  large  donations,  many  subscriptions, 
and  a  large  proportion  of  the  revenue  derived  from 
the  profits  on  the  shorthand  books,  appear  to  have 
all  gone  in  the  promotion  of  the  branch  of  the 
Reform  which  did  not  "  pay  expenses/ ' 

Most  of  the  lecturers  and  travelling  teachers 
whose  names  have  figured  in  the  earlier  pages  of 
this  biography  had  now  retired  from  the  field. 
Their  labours  had  been  highly  successful  from  the 
time  when  Mr.  Joseph  Pitman  took  up  the  work 
relinquished  by  the  Inventor  of  Phonography  in 
1842,  down  to  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Benn  Pitman 
from  the  lecturing  field  late  in  1852,  in  order  to 


THE  TRAVELLING   LECTURERS     117 

emigrate  to  the  United  States.  "  At  that  time," 
Mr.  Benn  Pitman  says,  "  I  was  the  only  remaining 
lecturer  and  teacher  who  had  for  nearly  ten  years 
made  the  dissemination  of  Phonography  and 
Phonetics  successful  enough  to  yield  a  frugal 
living.,,  Before  this  time  most  of  the  other 
lecturers  whose  names  have  been  mentioned  had 
found  a  more  permanent  source  of  livelihood  than 
the  precarious  income  which  travelling  lecturing 
afforded.  The  causes  that  at  the  outset  at- 
tracted crowded  gatherings  had  to  a  great  extent 
ceased  to  operate.  Speaking  of  the  early  lecturing 
work  Mr.  Reed  has  observed,  "  We  had  the  great 
advantage  of  having  something  of  the  nature  of  a 
novelty  to  bring  before  our  hearers.  We  had  not 
only  a  new  system  of  shorthand  to  expound,  we 
had  a  new  system  of  spelling  to  advocate."  But 
with  local  teachers  of  shorthand  and  champions 
of  the  Spelling  Reform  springing  up  in  all 
directions,  it  became  less  and  less  possible  to  break 
new  ground,  and  accordingly  the  early  lecturers 
sought  other  callings  in  life.  Mr.  Joseph  Pitman 
entered  a  position  of  trust  in  the  firm  of  Messrs. 
Jonas  Brook  &  Bros.,  at  Meltham,  which  he  held 
for  thirty  years.  Mr.  Reed,  after  filling  two  or 
three  provincial  appointments  as  a  newspaper 
reporter,  came  to  London  and  founded  the  well- 
known  firm  of  professional  shorthand  writers  now 
entitled  Messrs.  T.  A.  Reed  &  Co.  Mr.  Henry 
Pitman  combined  newspaper  reporting  with  pro- 
fessional  shorthand   writing   and  a  considerable 


118  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

amount  of  teaching  work,  eventually  settling  in 
Manchester.  Here  Mr.  William  Hunt,  who  had 
married  Isaac's  sister  Jane,  for  some  years  also 
engaged  in  teaching.  Mr.  Frederick  Pitman,  as 
we  have  seen,  became  the  London  publisher  of  his 
brother's  books,  and  in  addition  developed  a  large 
music  publishing  business.  Mr.  Withers  became 
for  a  period  private  secretary  to  Sir  James 
Matheson  (who  at  one  time  represented  Ashburton 
in  Parliament),  but  later  on  he  settled  in  Liverpool 
as  a  shorthand  teacher.  Other  lecturers  and 
teachers  readily  found  openings  on  the  newspaper 
press  as  reporters,  when  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
and  Advertisement  Duties  made  a  cheap  press 
possible,  and  there  was  a  considerable  demand  for 
reports  of  public  proceedings  such  as  could  only  be 
furnished  by  reporters  who  were  expert  shorthand 
writers.  At  this  time  also  phonographic  reporters 
were  beginning  to  make  their  way  into  what  had 
hitherto  been  a  close  preserve  of  the  writers  of  the 
older  systems — namely  the  Galleries  and  Com- 
mittee Rooms  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  We 
find  Isaac  Pitman  writing  that  he  is  "  acquainted 
with  the  names  of  three  gentlemen  engaged  on  the 
Morning  Post,  with  one  on  the  Morning  Chronicle, 
and  one  on  the  Morning  Advertiser,  who  use 
Phonography  in  the  House  of  Commons ;  and 
with  one  employed  on  The  Times,  who  reports 
Committees  of  the  House,  etc." 

The  travelling  lecturers  had  done  their  work  well 
and  thoroughly  ;  there  was  hardly  an  important 


PHONOGRAPHIC  WORKS  119 

town  in  the  country  in  which  their  voices  had 
not  been  heard.  They  were  succeeded  by  resident 
teachers  and  voluntary  workers,  in  most  cases 
their  own  pupils,  under  whom  Phonography  made 
great  and  continuous  progress,  and  it  became  a 
considerable  undertaking  to  provide  literature  in 
the  shape  of  instruction  books,  exercise  books, 
reading  books,  and  periodicals.  But  Isaac  Pitman 
went  about  this  work  with  steady  and  unwearied 
regularity.  On  3rd  January,  1852,  the  Phonetic 
Journal  was  enlarged  in  size  and  was  issued  as  a 
weekly  periodical.  At  this  period  an  enlarged 
edition  of  the  "  Phonographic  Dictionary/ '  en- 
titled "  A  Phonetic  and  Pronouncing  Vocabulary 
of  the  English  Language  "  was  prepared  with  the 
shorthand  characters  lithographed  on  pages  facing 
the  letterpress.  In  this  work  Mr.  Reed  assisted, 
and  "  many  phonographic  outlines  and  sets  of 
outlines  were  tried  in  ordinary  writing  for  the 
purpose  of  selecting  the  best."  Isaac  Pitman  was 
fond  of  giving  statistics,  and  in  association  with 
his  lithographic  work  he  mentions  that  at  this 
time  during  four  years  he  lithographed  4,800  pages 
of  Phonography.  His  work  as  a  shorthand  tran- 
script writer  has  never  been  excelled.  But  when 
he  had  been  engaged  in  this  way  for  ten  years  he 
published  in  1852  this  singularly  modest  estimate 
of  his  own  abilities.  "  He  never  hoped,"  he  said, 
'  to  be  able  to  produce  anything  in  this  way  that 
could  be  considered  excellent,  because  his  '  trans- 
fers '  were,  from  the  stern  necessity  of  his  business. 


120  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

produced  in  a  short  time,  and  often  amid  inter- 
ruptions. Moreover,  he  had  not  been  trained  to 
the  work — had  never  written  anything  merely  for 
practice,  but  lithographed  the  first  number  of  the 
Phonetic  Journal,  in  1842,  after  an  hour's  trial 
with  the  lithographic  pen,  and  never  afterwards 
wrote  anything  but  for  the  purpose  of  its  being 
printed.,, 

From  year  to  year  the  Phonetic  Society  showed 
considerable  growths  in  membership,  its  objects 
being  at  this  time  defined  as  "  For  the  general 
introduction  of  Phonetic  Spelling,  both  in  Writing 
and  Printing,  in  order  to  render  the  arts  of  Reading 
and  Writing  accessible  to  the  whole  Population." 
The  only  official  of  the  Society  since  its  establish- 
ment had  been  its  Secretary,  Isaac  Pitman,  who 
continued,  in  fact,  its  working  head  throughout. 
But  in  1854  he  invited  Mr.  George  Dawson  to 
become  its  President,  and  that  gentleman  took 
office.  The  membership  was  at  this  time  about 
4,500,  and  a  re-classification  of  members  being 
projected  it  occurred  to  Isaac  Pitman  to  offer  the 
Presidency  of  the  Society  to  Mr.  Ellis  "  notwith- 
standing the  differences  of  opinion  existing 
between  them  in  reference  to  the  1847  alphabet." 
The  following  correspondence  took  place,  which 
speaks  for  itself  : — 

Isaac  Pitman  to  Mr.  Ellis. 

I  believe  I  speak  the  sentiments  of  every  phono- 
grapher  when  I  say  that  your  acceptance  of  the 
office  of  President  of  the  Phonetic  Society  would 


THE   PHONETIC   SOCIETY  121 

be  hailed  with  delight  by  every  one  of  the  thou- 
sands of  spelling  reformers  in  this  country  and  in 
America.  .  .  .  For  the  interest  of  the  phonetic 
cause  in  America  especially  would  I  urge  the  pro- 
priety of  your  accepting  the  office  of  president  of 
a  Society  which  I  have  from  its  commencement, 
eleven  years  ago,  served  in  the  capacity  of 
secretary.  There,  where  party  feeling  on  most 
subjects  runs  high,  they  suppose  that  you  and  I 
are  at  variance  as  men  because  we  have  different 
opinions  on  phonetics.  It  is  in  your  power  to 
remove  this  impression,  which  is  as  hurtful  to  the 
interests  of  morality  as  to  the  phonetic  reform. 

Mr.  Ellis  to  Isaac  Pitman. 

I  have  read  over  your  article  on  the  proposed 
new  organization  of  the  Phonetic  Society,  and  also 
your  letter  to  me  asking  me  to  be  President.  It 
is  quite  impossible  for  me  to  accept  the  office  ; 
indeed,  I  am  not  even  aware  that  it  is  vacant, 
having  recently  seen  the  name  of  Mr.  George 
Dawson  printed  as  that  of  the  President  of  the 
Phonetic  Society.  You  must  excuse  me  from 
entering  upon  my  other  reasons  for  declining  to 
allow  my  name  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  your 
Society,  to  which  in  my  own  opinion  no  other 
name  but  your  own  could  be  prefixed,  as  it  is 
emphatically  a  Society  of  your  own  creation  and 
upholding.  I  will  only  say  that  I  do  not  decline 
from  any  party  feeling  on  the  subject  of  alphabets, 
any  dislike  to  the  soonest  possible  advent  of  some 
phonetic  spelling,  any  disapproval  of  Phonography 
in  its  present  state,  or  any  personal  feeling  against 
yourself. 

No  change  was  made  in  the  Presidency  of  the 


122 


SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 


Phonetic  Society,  and  Mr.  Dawson  continued  to 
fill  that  position. 

In  1855  Isaac  Pitman  removed  his  private 
residence  from  Nelson  Place  to  No.  2  Lansdown 
Terrace,  Bath,  situated  at  a  much  higher  level 
than  the  home  he  had  vacated,  and  on  the  steep 
road  ascending  from  the  city  to  the  famous  heights 
of  Lansdown.  He  was  also  at  the  same  time 
obliged  at  considerable  inconvenience  to  remove 
the  Phonetic  Institute  from  Albion  Place.  The 
building  he  occupied  had  been  acquired  for  the 
Western  Dispensary,  and  he  had  at  short  notice  to 


THE   THIRD    PHONETIC    INSTITUTE,    PARSONAGE    LANE,    BATH 
The  entrance  "  through  dark  passages  and  up  narrow  flights  of  stairs." 


THIRD   PHONETIC   INSTITUTE      123 

find  suitable  premises  elsewhere  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  his  considerable  printing  plant  and 
growing  staff.  In  Parsonage  Lane,  in  the  centre 
of  Bath,  there  are  some  substantially  built  and 
capacious  buildings  used  for  a  variety  of  industrial 
purposes,  and  in  one  of  these  Isaac  Pitman  secured, 
at  the  low  rental  of  £15  a  year,  a  room  on  the  top 
floor  53  ft.  by  28 \  ft.,  which  was  lofty  and  well 


A    CORNER    IN    THE    THIRD    PHONETIC    INSTITUTE 


lighted,  though  there  were  very  serious  dis- 
advantages and  discomforts  which  made  it  a  far 
from  ideal  place  for  conducting  the  varied  pursuits 
of  author,  reformer,  transfer  writer,  printer,  and 
publisher.  The  lane  in  which  the  building  is 
situated  was  at  that  time  far  from  being  a  credit 
to  the  City  of  Bath,  while  the  approach  to  Isaac 
Pitman's  office  from  the  entrance  "  through  dark 
passages  and  up  narrow  flights  of  stairs  "  was  the 
reverse  of  prepossessing.     But  the  spacious  room 


124  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

occupied  as  the  third  Phonetic  Institute  was  in 
delightful  contrast  to  its  surroundings.  From  its 
neatness  and  order  it  was  a  model  office,  and  here 
for  the  next  eighteen  years  Isaac  Pitman  did  some 
of  the  best  work  of  his  life  in  the  popularization  of 
his  system  of  shorthand,  and  in  the  development 
of  phonotypic  printing. 

During  1855  there  occurred  what  Isaac  Pitman 
designated  as  the  "  Websterian  discussion  on  the 
right  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Phonetic  Society  to 
disseminate  his  religious  opinions/ '  It  had  been 
a  regular  custom  of  the  Inventor  of  Phonography 
to  furnish  all  who  desired  phonographic  or  phonetic 
publications  with  a  modicum  of  New  Church 
literature  in  addition,  and  the  Journal  was  also 
made  the  vehicle  for  a  similar  propaganda.  When 
attention  was  directed  to  the  matter  by  Mr. 
William  Webster,  of  Dundee,  a  number  of  pro- 
minent phonographers  and  phoneticians  belonging 
to  different  communions  gave  expression  to 
emphatic  opinions  to  the  effect  that  they  did  not 
desire  the  Reading  and  Writing  Reform  associated 
with  the  propagation  of  any  particular  religious 
tenets.  Among  those  who  expressed  this  view 
were  two  Cambridge  undergraduates  who  later  on 
assumed  leading  parts  in  the  phonographic  and 
phonetic  movement.  One  of  these  was  Mr.  C.  H. 
E.  Wyche,  who  became  a  clergyman  in  the  Church 
of  England,  but  met  with  an  untimely  death  in 
South  Africa,  being  drowned  while  crossing  a 
river.     The  other  was  Mr.  F.  J.  Candy  (wrangler  in 


A   COMPROMISE  125 

1854)  who  took  up  a  professorship  of  Mathematics 
at  Bombay,  and  was  throughout  his  long  life  an 
ardent  phonographer  and  spelling  reformer.  Isaac 
Pitman  had  strong  views  as  to  the  duty  incumbent 
on  him  to  "  scatter  the  seeds  of  truth,"  but  finally 
hit  on  a  compromise  to  which  no  reasonable 
objection  could  be  taken.  While  not  yielding  his 
freedom  of  action  as  an  individual,  he  agreed  that 
in  his  official  capacity  as  Secretary  of  the  Phonetic 
Society  he  would  no  longer  seek  to  propagate  his 
particular  religious  views. 


XII 

THE   TENTH   AND   ELEVENTH   EDITIONS   OF 
PHONOGRAPHY 

1857-1862 

Between  the  publication  of  the  Second  Edition  of 
Phonography,  in  1840,  and  the  last  issue  of  the 
Ninth  Edition  in  1855,  the  art  had  become  the 
most  widely  and  generally  used  system  of  English 
shorthand  ever  invented.  Apart  from  the 
literature  produced  by  Isaac  Pitman  and  sent  out 
from  the  Phonetic  Institute,  there  was  a  con- 
siderable output  of  periodical  and  other  pro- 
ductions lithographed  in  the  characters  of  the 
system  and  issued  by  various  phonographers. 
The  Pitmanic  text-books,  published  in  different 
forms,  had  attained  large  sales.  The  "  Manual  of 
Phonography  u  was  in  its  one  hundred  and  fortieth 
thousand,  and  the  popular  introductory  text-book 
— the  precursor  of  the  "  Phonographic  Teacher  " 
— was  in  its  two  hundred  and  thirtieth  thousand. 
While  the  system  had  been  untouched  in  its  main 
features,  the  period  had  been  one  of  experiment, 
which  had  resulted  in  simplifications  and  useful 
additions.  For  example,  the  half  length  principle 
had  been  reduced  to  order,  and  the  double  length 
principle  introduced  and  applied  to  curved  con- 
sonants. The  representation  of  the  aspirate  had 
been  improved,  and  consonant  forms,  which  were 

126 


VOWEL  SCALE   EXPERIMENTS      127 

badly  needed  for  w  and  y,  had  been  adopted. 
At  the  same  time  several  crudities  had  dis- 
appeared. Thus  far  the  evolution  of  the  system 
had  given  satisfaction.  Improvements  had  been 
effected  after  full  consultation  with  the  phono- 
graphic body,  and  it  was  generally  felt  that  they 
added  materially  to  the  usefulness  of  the  method 
without  any  serious  interference  with  the  writing 
habits  of  those  who  had  acquired  Phonography 
from  the  earlier  editions. 

During  the  autumn  of  1855  Isaac  Pitman  began 
a  series  of  experiments  with  the  vowel  scale  of 
Phonography,  which  had  a  most  remarkable  effect 
on  the  future  development  of  the  system  in  this 
country  and  in  America.  In  this  project  he  had 
the  co-operation  of  Mr.  Charles  Bagot  Cayley 
(1823-1883),  the  poet,  and  brother  of  Mr.  Arthur 
Cayley,  the  eminent  mathematician.  Mr.  C.  B. 
Cayley  came  to  Bath  and  resided  with  Isaac 
Pitman  for  about  a  year  while  engaged  at  the 
Phonetic  Institute  in  the  experiments  above 
mentioned,  and  afterwards  in  the  considerable 
labour  of  introducing  the  changes  in  the  text- 
books and  other  literature  of  the  system.  A  less 
courageous  and  determined  man  than  Isaac 
Pitman  would  have  hesitated  to .  introduce  im- 
provements which  could  not  fail  to  alienate  a  large 
number  of  his  most  influential  supporters ;  to  be 
attended  with  much  personal  inconvenience  to 
himself  ;  to  prove,  moreover,  a  source  of  consider- 
able loss  in  his  publishing  business,  not  only  while 


1    ee 

1  z 

1    ah  ' 

2   eh    ■ 

2<T  •; 

to 

2   £/*  • 

3   ah   . 

3  a 

3  ee   . 

128  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

the  changes  were  being  introduced,  but  for  a  long 
time  after  the  appearance  of  the  much  criticized 
Tenth  Edition  towards  the  end  of  1857.  But  he 
never  allowed  such  considerations  to  hinder  the 
development  of  Phonography. 

The  improvement  proposed  in  the  system  was 
the  following  altered  order  of  the  vowel  scale  : — 

Old  Vowel  Scale.      New  Vowel  Scale. 

1  a 

2  e 

3  z 

This  change  involved  a  corresponding  alteration 
in  the  way  and  yay  series,  while  the  positions  of 
some  half-dozen  grammalogues  were  affected. 
And  the  alteration,  of  course,  revolutionized  the 
vowel  notation  and  the  observance  of  position. 
The  Ninth  Edition  writer  had  to  partly  change 
his  habits  of  writing  in  order  to  adopt  the  Tenth 
Edition.  A  considerable  number  of  phono- 
graphers  in  this  country  and  the  bulk  of  American 
phonographers  of  that  generation  never  used  the 
new  scale.  But  the  improvements  were  twice 
submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  Phonetic  Society  with 
favourable  results.  In  1857  a  total  of  214  voted 
for  the  new  scale  against  45  who  were  opposed  to 
it ;  and  in  1858,  after  a  vigorous  hostile  campaign, 
the  votes  were  :  For  191  ;  against  58  ;  neutral  38. 
These  majorities,  consisting  largely  of  teachers 
who    were    specially    interested    in    the    future 


^ 


H^y 


3E 


'CfNETIK  SCTSSIETI 


ov 


GRE7T  BRITEN  AND  EIRLAND. 


A, 


OBDJEKTS. 

1.  cle  intmdukcon  Ov  an  imprmvd  mebod  ov 
titciij  tu  r.id  de  prezent  buks,  bei  a  kerrs  ov  in- 
strukcon  in  fonetik  buks. 

2.  3e  ekstencon  ov  de  art  ov  Fernografi,  or  Fo- 
netik Corjhand,  bei  de  formecon  ov  fr.i  or  peiij 
klasez,  and  bei  gratiuitus  titcirj  form  de  post. 

3.  3e  reforms-con  ov  de  orbografi  ov  de  Inglic 
laijg\vt:dj,  bei  de  yuis,  in  lonhand  reitig  and  printiij, 
ov  a  Fonetik  Alfabet  dat  kontenz  a  leter  for  itc 
simpel  and  distigkt  sound  in  de  laijgwtdj. 

Entrans  FL,  6d.,  Aniual  Subshripcon  6d.  or  eni  heier 
amount,  peabel  at  de  teim  ov  djoiniy  de  Seseieti,  and  on  de 
1st  December,  or  at  eni  teim  diurig  de  mund. 

3is  Kard  ov  Membercip  Sertifeiz  dat 
iz  enro-Id  a  Member  ov  de  Fe-aetik  Serseieti,  Klas  _X_. 


r 


If* 


PHONETIC    SOCIETY   CARD    OF    MEMBERSHIP.    1857 


NEW  VOWEL  SCALE  129 

propagation  of  the  system,  confirmed  the  Inventor 
of  Phonography  in  the  conviction  that  the  im- 
provement in  the  vowel  scale  was  in  the  best 
interests  of  the  system  and  its  practitioners.  It 
was  one  of  those  changes  in  which  philosophic 
desirability  is  happily  associated  with  practical 
expediency,  and  the  improvement  without  ques- 
tion makes  the  Tenth  Edition  one  of  the  great 
landmarks  in  the  progress  of  Phonography. 

"  So  radical  a  change  as  this,"  Isaac  Pitman 
wrote  in  introducing  the  new  vowel  scale  to 
phonographers,  "  would  not  be  proposed  on  slight 
grounds,  nor  for  any  reason  that  I  did  not  consider 
imperative.  The  alteration  must  be  made  now  or 
at  some  future  time."  He  held  that  the  old  vowel 
scale  violated  a  fundamental  principle  of  phonetic 
writing  which  he  had  discovered  in  Dr.  Latham's 
work,  but  there  was  a  far  more  practical  reason 
furnished  in  some  observations  Isaac  Pitman  made 
early  in  1858,  when  the  controversy  was  at  its 
height.  "  Phonography,  as  regards  the  vowel 
scale,"  he  wrote,  "  started  on  a  different  principle 
from  that  more  or  less  employed  in  the  formation 
of  other  systems.  In  other  systems  a  and  its 
cognate  vowels  were  regarded  as  naturally  the  first 
in  the  scale,  because  of  the  position  of  a  in  the 
romanic  alphabet.  This  reason  did  not  appear 
satisfactory,  and  it  was  proposed  on  philosophic 
grounds  that  eey  ty  should  be  the  first  vowels. 
These  grounds  have  now  been  found  untenable, 
and  it  has  been  decided  that  the  arrangement 

*-(a284) 


130  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

sanctioned  by  common  usage  is  also  the  most 
philosophical.  How  can  it  then  be  expected  that 
if  we  now  adopt  the  ahy  ehy  ee  scale,  we  shall  ever 
be  called  on  to  discard  it  ?  The  opposite  scale,  as 
long  as  it  is  employed,  may  produce  division  among 
phonographers,  may  increase  the  difficulties  of  the 
learner  in  acquiring  a  notion  of,  or  a  liking  for 
Phonography,  but  can  never  afford  a  permanent 
basis  for  a  system  to  be  as  widely  employed  among 
mankind  as  Phonography  aims  at  being.,,  The 
Tenth  Edition  of  Phonography,  in  addition  to 
having  the  new  vowel  scale,  introduced  the  large 
hook  for  -shony  the  small  hook  which  had 
previously  done  duty  for  this  termination  being 
assigned  to  /  and  v. 

n  In  spite  of  the  support  by  a  majority  of  the 
Phonetic  Society  of  the  new  vowel  scale,  the 
opposition  to  it  was  both  strenuous  and  vigorously 
expressed.  Mr.  Reed  was  the  protagonist  of  the 
opposition  in  England.  Mr.  Ellis  took  no  active 
part  in  the  controversy,  but  (unlike  Mr.  Reed) 
adhered  to  the  Ninth  Edition  throughout  his  life. 
Isaac  Pitman  replied  at  length  to  Mr.  Reed's 
objections,  and  pointed  out  with  considerable 
force  that  the  new  and  natural  vowel  scale  formed 
a  complement  to  the  natural  arrangement  of  the 
consonants,  which  had  been  adopted  in  the  Second 
Edition  of  Phonography.  Many  examples  of  vocal- 
ized words  were  used  as  illustrations  during  the 
discussion,  and  the  form  for  ability  N/1  was  again 
and  again  cited  as  an  example  of  the  advantage 


ISAAC    PITMAN 
1859   {age  46) 


OPPOSITION  131 

of  giving  the  vowel  a  its  natural  first  position, 
and  i  its  natural  third  position,  rather  than 
the  positions  they  assumed  under  the  old  vowel 
scale,  in  which  ability  was  vocalized  thus, 
V|  At  the  end  of  1858,  Mr.  Reed,  while 
still  believing  the  alteration  unnecessary,  an- 
nounced his  decision  to  adopt  the  new  vowel  scale, 
rather  than  perpetuate  the  want  of  harmony  which 
had  prevailed  for  a  considerable  period.  But  he 
added  significantly,  "  This  will  be  the  last  occasion 
on  which  we  shall  adopt  any  material  alteration 
in  the  system  which  we  do  not  regard  as  a  sub- 
stantial improvement,  and  worth  the  labour 
involved  in  the  change/ ' 

A  well-known  London  phonographer,  Mr.  Charles 
Gahagan,  editor  of  the  Phonographer  Examiner 
and  other  periodicals,  who  had  opposed  from  the 
outset  the  introduction  of  what  he  was  pleased 
to  describe  as  "  the  inverted  or  non-natural  vowel 
scale,"  continued  the  teaching  and  advocacy  of 
the  Ninth  Edition  long  after  Mr.  Reed  had  come  to 
the  decision  mentioned  above,  and  as  time  passed 
showed  himself  a  most  persistent  and  deter- 
mined foe  to  the  new  vowel  scale.  He  not  only 
taught  the  Ninth  Edition  extensively,  but  in  1858 
he  collected  the  votes  of  767  phonographers — 
presumably  outside  the  ranks  of  the  Phonetic 
Society — and  declared  648  favoured  the  retention 
of  the  ee,  eh,  ah  arrangement  of  the  vowels.  He 
also  promoted  the  British  Phonetic  Union,  with 
the  Rev.   Canon  Gray,   of   Ripon   Cathedral,   as 


132  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

President,  M  to  unite  phonographers  upon  the  old 
and  tried  vowel  scale." 

In  America  the  discussion  on  the  new  vowel 
scale  created  a  great  amount  of  interest  and 
excitement  in  phonetic  circles.  Mr.  Benn  Pitman 
addressed  his  brother  in  vigorous  terms  on  the 
subject  though,  as  regarded  the  improvement  itself, 
he  expressed  the  opinion  that  it  would  yield  "  a 
slight  advantage  in  point  of  speed/ '  and  he  also 
somewhat  grudgingly  admitted  that  "  the  pro- 
posed alteration  of  the  vowel  scale  is  a  nearer 
approach  to  a  philosophic  alphabet/'  but  for 
perhaps  five  or  seven  years  he  would  continue  to 
publish  his  brother's  Ninth  Edition  "  without  a 
particle  of  alteration/ '  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
waiting  policy  was  never  departed  from  by  the 
younger  brother  of  the  Inventor  of  Phonography. 

The  "  Battle  of  the  Styles "  continued  in 
England  for  some  years.  Teachers  who  insisted 
on  having  Ninth  Edition  books,  were  supplied 
with  them,  but  the  stock  was  not  inexhaustible, 
and  in  time  only  the  current  Tenth  Edition  was 
procurable.  Those  who  objected  to  the  transition 
from  the  Ninth  to  the  Tenth  Edition  did  not 
foresee  that  ere  long  other  and  almost  as  funda- 
mental improvements  would  be  introduced  for 
their  acceptance.  There  were  still  some  changes 
to  be  made  ere  Phonography  was  brought  to  the 
standard  of  perfection  designed  by  its  Inventor. 
In  the  summer  of  1861  further  proposals  were 
submitted  to  the  judgment  of  phonographers,  on 


ELEVENTH   EDITION  133 

which  Isaac  Pitman  and  Mr.  Cayley  had  been  for 
some  time  experimenting.  After  an  interval  for 
discussion,  the  Eleventh  Edition  of  Phonography 
was  published  in  1862,  in  which  the  improvements 
introduced  included  alternative  consonantal  signs 
for  w,  y,  and  h  ;  the  prefix  in-  to  the  consonantal 
form  of  h  ;  and  large  initial  hooks  to  curves  for 
indicating  the  addition  of  / — an  effective  and 
harmonious  employment  of  hitherto  unused 
phonographic  material. 

The  reasons  given  for  the  introduction  of  large 
hooks  into  the  system  did  not,  however,  commend 
themselves  to  Mr.  Reed's  judgment,  and  he 
accordingly  carried  into  effect  the  resolution 
already  quoted.  He  declared  himself  a  Tenth 
Edition  writer,  and  as  there  were  many  teachers 
and  writers  who  shared  his  objection  to  the  big 
hooks,  a  further  schism  in  the  ranks  of  phono- 
graphic workers  was  created,  which  was  not  closed 
for  many  years.  "  We  see  no  sufficient  reason," 
Mr.  Reed  wrote,  "  for  changing  to  the  Eleventh 
Edition,  with  the  prospect  before  us  of  having  ere 
long  to  change  to  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth, 
and  so  on  ad  infinitum,"  Mr.  Reed's  criticism 
led  the  Inventor  of  Phonography  to  discontinue 
the  designation  of  new  issues  of  his  text-books  as 
"  Editions  "  after  the  Twelfth.  Isaac  Pitman  did 
not  favour  attempts  to  perpetuate  and  propagate 
Tenth  Edition  Phonography,  and  intimated  that 
he  considered  it  "  somewhat  selfish  "  on  the  part 
of  teachers  and  writers  not  to  recommend  the 


134  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Eleventh  Edition.  The  phrase  was  hardly  an 
agreeable  one,  and  Mr.  Reed  naturally  rejoined 
that  those  who  differed  from  the  Inventor  of 
Phonography,  while  they  believed  his  motives  to 
be  thoroughly  disinterested,  desired  him  to  think 
the  same  of  theirs. 

It  became  apparent,  however,  that  the  phono- 
graphic community  was  not  altogether  prepared 
for  the  changes  which  the  Eleventh  Edition  intro- 
duced, but  those  who  were  favourable  to  the  Tenth 
Edition  found  it  no  easy  matter  to  teach  it. 
Appeals  were  made  to  Isaac  Pitman  to  continue 
to  supply  at  least  one  of  the  instruction  books  in 
the  Tenth  Edition,  but  these  requests  were  not 
acceded  to.  Yet  in  several  quarters  instruction 
in  the  Tenth  Edition  was  persevered  in,  and 
teachers  and  professional  writers  found  in  the 
Phonographic  Reporter,  a  monthly  magazine  litho- 
graphed in  the  Reporting  Style  by  Mr.  Reed,  an 
able  champion  of  the  Phonography  of  their  choice. 
The  Eleventh  Edition  had  the  effect  of  bringing 
into  existence  a  body  styled  the  Phonographic 
Alliance,  which  was  concerned  in  keeping  the 
standard  of  Phonography  unchanged  for  a  definite 
period  of  time,  and  free  from  "  spasmodic  dis- 
turbances/ '  Happily  this  strenuous  controversy 
over  the  two  Editions  had  no  effect  on  the  cordial 
personal  relations  of  English  phonographers  with 
the  Inventor  of  Phonography  and  with  each  other. 

There  was  an  Art  Treasures  Exhibition  at  Man- 
chester in  the  summer  of  1857,  and  among  the 


AT  MANCHESTER  135 

various  gatherings  to  which  it  gave  rise  was  a 
meeting  for  the  promotion  of  the  Reading  and 
Writing  Reform,  attended  by  Isaac  Pitman.  This 
was  held  in  the  same  hall  at  the  Mechanics' 
Institute  in  which  he  had  first  spoken  to  a  Man- 
chester audience  sixteen  3^ears  before,  and  his 
address  is  noteworthy  because  at  the  opening  he 
reverently  ascribed  to  the  directing  hand  of 
Providence  the  invention  of  the  art  of  Phono- 
graphy, reminding  his  hearers  of  the  "  most 
certain  "  words  of  Shakspere— 

There's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough-hew  them  how  we  will. 

These  lines,  it  will  be  remembered,  for  many  years 
figured  in  the  Introduction  to  the  "  Manual  of 
Phonography/'  readers  being  exhorted  that  this 
truth  "  should  ever  inspire  men  with  energy  and 
perseverance  to  do  something,  however  small,  to 
rectify  error  and  replace  evil  by  good.,, 

At  this  time  Isaac  Pitman  sustained  a  domestic 
bereavement  in  the  death  of  his  wife,  which 
occurred  on  the  19th  August,  1857,  after  an  illness 
extending  over  three  years. 


XIII 


THE    READING,    WRITING,    AND    RECKONING 
REFORM  " 


1857-1862 

To  the  Spelling  Reform,  or  Phonotypy,  and  the 
Writing  Reform,  or  Phonography,  Isaac  Pitman 
added  a  third — the  Reckoning  Reform — at  this 
period.  When  very  near  the  close  of  his  life,  he 
was  much  gratified  to  find  Herbert  Spencer  advo- 
cating a  duodecimal  method  of  reckoning  similar 
to  that  which  he  had  proposed  so  long  before,  and 
he  then  wrote :  "  I  formulated  a  Reckoning 
Reform  on  the  basis  of  Twelve  forty  years  ago 
(1856),  used  it  for  three  or  four  years,  advocated 
it  in  my  Phonetic  Journal,  kept  my  accounts  in 
it,  and  paged  the  Journal  in  it.  The  phonetic 
alphabet  was  then  on  the  anvil,  and  as  I  could  not 
do  justice  to  both  reforms,  I  let  the  Reckoning 
Reform  slide.  A  goodly  portion  of  the  brain  of  the 
English  nation  has  now  taken  it  up,  and  I  hope 
we  shall  hear  no  more  of  changing  our  money, 
weights,  and  measures,  which  are  mostly  on  a 
twelve  basis  ;  but  instead  of  the  intolerable  con- 
fusion of  altering  the  value  and  the  name  of  every 
coin,  weight,  and  measure,  we  shall  simply  change 
our  mode  of  writing  them,  and  introduce  a  few  new 

136 


THE   "RECKONING   REFORM  "      137 

coins,  measures,  and  weights,  on  the  present  basis 
of  value,  and  give  them  Saxon  names.' ' 

The  proposal  to  reform  our  time-honoured 
methods  of  reckoning  was  as  courageous  as  the 
attack  on  our  spelling  ;  what  might  have  come 
of  the  "  Reckoning  Reform' '  if  it  had  been  advo- 
cated with  the  same  persistence  as  the  Spelling 
Reform  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The  fact  must  be 
recorded,  however,  that  Isaac  Pitman  did  not  find 
many  who  were  inclined  to  follow  his  example  in  the 
use  of  a  duodecimal  method  of  numeration.  A 
brief  summary  of  his  proposals  should,  however, 
find  a  place  here,  and  is  therefore  given  below  : — 

Duodecimal  Notation  :  Add  two  figures  to  the  present  scale 
for  ten  and  eleven,  thus  : 

1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  Z  (ten),  8  (eleven),  10  (dozen). 

Nomenclature :  Units,  Dozens,  Grosses,  Milliads ;  no 
higher  name  is  necessary.  To  express  numbers  above  a 
dozen,  say  the  names  of  the  figures,  and  in  writing  the  twelve 
notation,  separate  the  three  lowest  figures  by  a  point ;  thus, 
4.9  =  four  dozen  and  nine  ;  7.3.2.  =  seven  gross,  three  dozen, 
and  two;  584.6.3.1.  =  five-eight-four  milliads,  six  gross, 
three  dozen,,  and  one. 

Money :  Penny,  Shilling,  Mark  (twelve  shillings) ,  Banco 
(paper  money  =  £7  4s.,  in  place  of  the  £5  note). 

Weight :   Pounds,  with  twelfth  sub-divisions. 

Liquid  Measure  :  Pint,  Quart,  Gallon,  Hogshead  ;  with 
fractions  of  a  pint. 

All  calculations  of  the  cost  of  articles  would  be  performed 
in  plain  figures,  or  by  "  simple  "  instead  of  "  compound  " 
arithmetic. 


138  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Example  :  What  is  the  cost  of  363  (three-six-ten,  or  three 
gross,  six  dozen,  and  ten)  yards  of  cloth  at  2s.  4d.  per  yard  ? 

36S 
24 


1234 
718 

83S4 


Answer :   Eight  Bancos,  three  Marks,  eleven  shillings,  and 
four  pence. 


The  Spelling  Reform  question  at  this  time 
assumed  an  important  place  among  the  move- 
ments which  were  attracting  a  large  measure  of 
attention.  Some  influential  public  men  had 
become  interested  in  the  Reform,  and  gave 
it  personal  and  pecuniary  assistance.  From 
this  period  may  be  said  to  date  the  patronage 
and  generous  support  of  the  Spelling  Reform 
by  Sir  Walter  Calverley  Trevelyan  (1797-1879), 
the  sixth  Baronet,  of  Nettlecombe  Court, 
Taunton,  and  Wallington,  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  and 
of  his  friendship  with  Isaac  Pitman.  The  Spelling 
Reform  propaganda  was  from  first  to  last  a  serious 
financial  drain  on  the  resources  of  its  originator. 
The  subscriptions  of  the  members  of  the  Phonetic 
Society  probably  only  defrayed  the  cost  of  free 
literature,  and  the  expenses  of  costly  experiments 
in  the  production  of  phonetic  type  were  met  by 
special  subscriptions  and  by  the  profits  on  the 
sales  of  the  shorthand  books.    But  these  sources 


PRIZE   ESSAYS  139 

of  income  were  insufficient,  and  Isaac  Pitman 
found  it  necessary  to  procure  loans  from  friends 
of  the  Reform,  to  whom  interest  at  the  rate  of  5 
per  cent  per  annum  was  paid  for  the  use  of  the 
money.  The  highest  amount  which  the  loans 
reached  in  the  aggregate  was  £2,000.  Sir  Walter 
afforded  substantial  aid  in  this  way;  the  last 
of  his  loans  was  repaid  by  Isaac  Pitman  in  1877. 
Apart  from  his  help  in  the  shape  of  loans,  Sir 
Walter  gave  considerable  sums  to  the  movement. 
In  1858  the  hon.  Baronet  accepted  the  Presidency 
of  the  Phonetic  Society,  which  he  filled  until  the 
time  of  his  death. 

In  the  year  1857  attention  was  specially  called 
to  the  Spelling  Reform  movement  by  a  generous 
offer  on  the  part  of  Sir  Walter  C.  Trevelyan,  of  two 
prizes  of  £100  and  £40  respectively,  "  for  the  two 
best  and  approved  essays  on  a  reform  in  the  spelling 
of  the  English  language,  by  the  introduction  of  a 
phonetic  instead  of  the  present  unphonetic 
system. "  The  essays  were  to  include,  "  An 
historical  account  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  the 
present  imperfect  system  of  spelling  ;  an  analysis 
of  the  system  of  articulate  sounds  ;  and  an  exposi- 
tion of  those  occurring  in  our  language  ;  with  a 
notice  of  the  various  modes  in  which  it  has  been 
attempted  to  express  these  sounds  graphically, 
and  a  suggestion  for  doing  so,  in  which  care  should 
be  taken  that  no  letter  should  express  more  than 
one  sound,  that  no  sound  should  be  expressed  by 
more  than  one  letter,  and  that  as  few  new  types  as 


140  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

possible  should  be  admitted.0  The  competition 
was  to  be  open  to  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
British  North  America,  and  the  United  States. 
The  adjudicators  were  Mr.  A.  J.  Ellis,  Dr.  R.  G. 
Latham,  Professor  Max-Miiller,  Isaac  Pitman, 
and  Sir  Walter  C.  Trevelyan.  Eighteen  essays 
were  received  from  various  parts  of  England  and 
America,  but  not  one  of  them,  Mr.  Reed  states, 
was  adjudicated  as  meriting  a  prize,  all  the  condi- 
tions of  the  offer  not  having  been  fulfilled.  Several 
of  the  essays,  however,  were  said  to  show  much 
talent,  and  Sir  Walter  Trevelyan,  as  the  offerer 
of  the  prizes,  gave  to  the  writer  of  one  of  the 
essays  (Professor  S.  S.  Haldeman,  of  Columbia, 
Pennsylvania,  U.S.A.)  the  sum  of  £50,  and  a 
further  sum  of  £50  on  the  author  undertaking 
to  revise,  complete,  and  publish  the  essay.  The 
Professor  published  his  essay  in  a  quarto  volume 
of  148  pages.  Sir  Walter  also  gave  £10  to  the 
writers  of  four  other  essays,  namely,  the  Rev. 
F.  G.  Fleay,  vice-president  of  Culham  Training 
College,  Abingdon  ;  Mr.  James  Kerr,  M.A.,  the 
Rev.  R.  Wells  Whitford,  and  the  Rev.  Neil 
Livingston. 

In  association  with  the  competition  described 
above  Isaac  Pitman  received  a  letter  from  Professor 
Max-Miiller  (1823-1900),  which  led  to  a  life-long 
friendship  with  the  famous  occupant  of  the  Chair 
of  Comparative  Philology  at  Oxford  University. 
Professor  Max-Miiller' s  communication  to  Isaac 
Pitman  was  as  follows  : — 


MAX-MULLER  141 

I  was  well  acquainted  with  the  strenuous  exertions  which 
you  and  some  of  your  friends  have  been  making  in  order  to 
effect  a  reform  in  the  present  system  of  English  Orthography. 
I  possessed  myself  of  several  of  your  publications,  and  had 
derived  much  information  from  a  book,  first  published, 
I  believe,  in  your  Journal,  the  "  Alphabet  of  Nature,"  by 
Mr.  Ellis.  What  I  wrote  to  Sir  W.  Trevelyan  was  only  to 
express  my  conviction,  that  though  hitherto  the  reform  of 
English  spelling  had  not  met  with  that  success  which  one 
might  have  wished  and  expected,  yet  it  was  sure  ultimately 
to  effect  the  desired  result ;  and  that  I  thought  the  encourage- 
ment which  Sir  Walter  intended  to  give  to  this  movement, 
by  offering  a  prize  for  the  best  Essay  on  the  Reform  of  English 
Spelling,  very  opportune  and  beneficial.  My  own  line  of 
studies  has  led  me  to  pay  some  attention  to  the  general  subject 
of  phonetics,  and  the  origin  and  history  of  alphabetical 
writing,  and  I  was  very  much  interested  in  seeing  how  this 
science  had  been  applied  by  you  with  so  much  ingenuity  to 
the  practical  purpose  of  reforming  the  English  system  of 
spelling,  and  facilitating  the  method  of  learning  to  read  and 
write. 

Soon  afterwards  Professor  Max-Muller  delivered 
his  well-known  series  of  "  Lectures  on  the  Science 
of  Language  "  at  the  Royal  Institution  (1861-3). 
In  the  first  volume  of  the  published  lectures 
occurred  a  forcible  plea  for  reformed  spelling,  and 
commendation  of  the  Phonetic  Reform.  "  I  am 
far  from  underrating/'  Max-Muller  said,  "  the 
difficulties  that  stand  in  the  way  of  such  a  reform, 
and  I  am  not  so  sanguine  as  to  indulge  in  any 
hopes  of  seeing  it  carried  for  the  next  three  or  four 
generations.  But  I  feel  convinced  of  the  truth 
and  reasonableness  of  the  principles  upon  which 
that  reform  rests."  He  had  no  doubt  that  our 
"  effete   and   corrupt   orthography "    would   go  : 


142  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

"  Nations  have  before  now  changed  their  numer- 
ical figures,  their  letters,  their  chronology,  their 
weights  and  measures  ;  and  though  Mr.  Pitman 
may  not  live  to  see  the  results  of  his  persevering 
and  disinterested  exertions,  it  requires  no  prophetic 
power  to  perceive  that  what  at  present  is  pooh- 
poohed  by  the  many  will  make  its  way  in  the  end, 
unless  met  by  arguments  stronger  than  those 
hitherto  levelled  at  the  Phonetic  News" 

At  this  period,  in  addition  to  the  works  in  the 
ordinary  phonetic  printing  issued  from  the 
Phonetic  Institute,  Isaac  Pitman  printed  for  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  a  number  of 
works  in  Mikmak  (a  language  spoken  by  a  tribe 
of  Indians  in  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia). 
These  included  the  Book  of  Genesis,  the  Book  of 
Psalms,  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  and  the  Acts  of  the 

J_  HN  umskwes  pcrktumkifik  Nikskem  kisidergup 
WBserk  ck  mfikumigou, 

2  Hk  mukumigou  weskedek  Bk  sigweek,  Bk  ber- 
gunitpak  ekup  wolkergumigegu.  Hk  Nikskfim 
uit9idJBk'midj,l  etlimadJBsilib'nn  uiskitpfiktuigu. 

3  Hk  Nikskfim  eep :  Wosadetcj ;  tokui  wosa- 
degup. 

4  Hk  Nikskfim  nemidergup  wosadek  uikulml- 
tununu.  Hk  Nikskfim  wedjitepkisB-dergup  wosa- 
dek bergunitptsk  iktuik. 

5  Hk  Nikskfim  teluliidugup  wosadek  negwek, 
fik  bcrgunitpfik  teluiiidugup  depkak.  Terkui  webs- 
guip  ck  eskitpuiguip  umskwesewe  nBgwek.  f 

FACSIMILE  OF   GENESIS   i.   I-5,  PRINTED   IN  MIKMAK. 


AMERICAN   PHONETICIANS  143 

Apostles.  The  three  other  Gospels  were  printed 
by  the  missionary,  the  Rev.  S.  T.  Rand.  The 
plan  of  teaching  Indians  to  read  by  the  phonetic 
alphabet  was  "  a  decided  success/ ' 

A  few  words  may  be  added  here  as  to  the 
progress  of  the  Spelling  Reform  in  America.  Mr. 
Andrews,  in  addition  to  his  phonographic  books, 
published  a  phonotypic  reader.  Some  years 
later  a  more  vigorous  impulse  was  given  to  the 
movement  in  the  United  States  by  the  phonetic 
books  and  periodicals  published  by  Mr.  Elias 
Longley,  of  Cincinnati.  In  later  years,  and  down 
to  the  present  day,  American  phoneticians  have 
devoted  considerable  attention  to  Spelling  Reform. 

On  21st  April,  1861,  Isaac  Pitman  married  his 
second  wife,  Miss  Isabella  Masters,  of  Bath,  and 
the  honeymoon  was  spent  on  the  Continent. 


XIV 

A    QUARTER    OF    A    CENTURY    OF     PHONOGRAPHY — 
PRESENTATION   TO   THE   INVENTOR 

1862 

In  1862  Pitmanic  shorthand  had  been  before  the 
world  for  twenty-five  years,  and  at  this  point  we 
may  with  advantage  review  its  position.  There 
was  one  noticeable  feature  about  Phonography 
which  distinguished  it  from  all  other  shorthand 
systems  that  had  preceded  it.  A  large  and  varied 
phonographic  periodical  press  had  appeared  in 
Great  Britain  devoted  to  the  art ;  Australia  had 
also  its  periodicals  ;  and  there  were,  of  course, 
many  published  in  the  United  States.  Such  a 
number  of  journals  could  only  flourish  if  the  art 
were  very  extensively  cultivated,  and  the  informa- 
tion given  in  this  chapter  demonstrates  that  this 
was  unquestionably  the  case.  Mr.  Reed  is  of 
opinion  that  at  this  time  "  the  great  majority  of 
newspaper  reporters  throughout  the  country  em- 
ployed Phonography  in  their  daily  avocations/ ' 
A  proportion  of  the  older  hands,  who  had  learnt 
shorthand  before  Phonography  was  invented, 
were  non-phonographers,  but  the  new  method 
had  done  such  good  work  that  it  could  no  longer 
be  denounced  as  impracticable. 

When   the   Inventor   of   Phonography   visited 
Manchester  in  1841,  his  system  was  criticized  in 

144 


THE  SHORTHAND   CLERK  145 

a  not  altogether  favourable  way  in  the  Manchester 
Guardian,  but  Mr.  John  Harland,  the  famous 
reporter,  afterwards  one  of  the  proprietors  of  that 
paper,  and  himself  a  shorthand  author,  made 
handsome  amends  later  on  by  his  tribute  to  the 
philosophical  and  stenographic  excellence  of 
Phonography.  "We  believe,"  he  wrote  in  the 
Guardian,  "  that  it  contains  within  itself  the  power 
of  becoming  superior  to  all,  with  the  further 
improvements  and  augmentations  which  a  careful 
revision  on  the  part  of  its  author  and  his  pupils, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  will  be  able  to  give 
it."  The  prediction  of  1843  had  been  amply 
fulfilled  5  in  1857  when  Isaac  Pitman  was  invited 
to  address  a  meeting  at  the  Mechanics'  Institution 
there,  a  resolution  was  passed  recording  the  opinion 
of  the  gathering  that  Phonography  was  "  the 
briefest  and  most  legible  system  of  shorthand/ ' 
and  in  1862  we  find  that  all  the  reporters  of  the 
Manchester  newspapers  used  Phonography.  It 
was  at  this  time,  too,  in  Manchester,  that  Sir 
Edward  W.  Watkin,  then  Chairman  of  the  Man- 
chester, Sheffield,  and  Lincolnshire  Railway  Co. 
(now  the  Great  Central),  introduced  the  practice 
of  dictating  correspondence  to  shorthand  writers, 
and  classes  were  established  by  him,  with  Mr. 
Henry  Pitman  as  instructor,  who  continued  to 
teach  the  railway  clerks  Phonography  for  fifty 
yesfrs. 

The  practice  initiated  in  Manchester  was  soon 
followed  by  other  railway  companies,  and  also  in 

10— -(2284) 


146  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

commercial  and  legal  offices,  and  Mr.  Reed  records 
that  "  about  this  time  advertisements  began  to 
appear  in  the  newspapers  for  assistants  who  could 
render  this  kind  of  service.,,  A  new  employment, 
that  of  shorthand  clerk,  was  created  by  Phono- 
graphy, and  Isaac  Pitman  did  much  to  promote 
it  through  his  Journal.  Even  in  the  most  con- 
servative sphere  of  professional  shorthand  writing, 
that  of  note-taking  in  the  London  law  courts, 
where  son  succeeded  father,  and  the  same  short- 
hand had  been  practised  for  generations,  fresh 
practitioners  writing  the  new  system  found  their 
way,  and  the  excellent  work  they  did  led  to  the 
softening  of  old  prejudices  against  Phonography. 
In  America  there  was  no  daily  newspaper  which 
did  not  employ  phonographic  reporters,  and  the 
system  had  been  subjected  to  a  severe  test  in 
scientific  reporting  by  Dr.  Stone,  who  took  notes 
of  lectures  by  Agassiz,  the  distinguished  professor 
of  natural  history  at  Harvard,  on  comparative 
embryology,  with  an  exactitude  which  was  most 
remarkable. 

In  the  early  part  of  1859  a  movement  was  set 
on  foot  in  London  for  recognizing  by  a  substantial 
token  of  appreciation  Isaac  Pitman's  unwearied 
and  disinterested  labours  for  close  upon  a  quarter 
of  a  century  in  the  promotion  of  the  Reading  and 
Writing  Reform.  Although  the  output  of  phono- 
graphic and  phonotypic  books  was  very  great,  the 
phonotypic  branch  of  the  movement  was  a  heavy 
drain    on    the    resources    of   its    originator    and 


PROPOSED   TESTIMONIAL  147 

principal  promoter,  and  he  had  found  it  necessary, 
as  we  have  seen,  to  borrow  considerably  to  carry 
on  the  work.  It  was  thought  that  a  pecuniary 
gift  would  be  acceptable,  and  accordingly  a  com- 
mittee was  formed,  the  Rev.  C.  H.  E.  Wyche  being 
appointed  chairman.  Assurances  of  support  were 
received  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  it 
was  decided  to  consult  the  proposed  recipient. 
Mr.  Wyche  therefore  wrote  the  following  letter  : — 

11  York  Place,  Kennington,  London,  S., 

12  Aug.,  1859. 
Dear  Sir, 

I  have  been  requested  to  communicate  with  you  on  a 
subject  more  agreeable  than  the  little  matters  of  business 
which  usually  call  for  a  letter  to  you. 

It  seems  that  Phonographers  in  various  parts  of  the  country 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  present  is  a  fit  time  for 
testifying  their  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  Art  for  which  they 
are  indebted  to  you,  as  well  as  the  estimation  in  which  they 
hold  your  personal  character  and  your  unwearied  labours  in 
the  Phonetic  cause.  They  desire  accordingly  to  begin  raising 
a  subscription  for  a  Testimonial,  and  they  wish  to  know 
whether  you  would  accept  such  a  recognition,  provided,  of 
course,  it  were  offered  in  a  form  of  which  you  could  approve. 

If  I  remember  rightly,  Phonographers  of  America  did,  some 
years  ago,  subscribe  for  such  a  purpose,  but  you  refused  to  let 
their  Testimonial  take  the  form  of  a  personal  gift,  and 
requested  them  to  retain  the  money  so  raised  as  the  nucleus 
of  a  Phonetic  fund  for  the  promotion  of  the  Reform  in  the 
United  States. 

It  occurred  to  my  mind  at  that  time  that  it  would  have 
been  better  had  you  accepted  the  offering,  and  devoted  it 
yourself  to  this  good  purpose.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
something  of  the  kind  might  very  properly  be  done  now. 
It  would  be  a  proof  that  Phonographers,  although  divided  on 


148  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

some  points,  yet  agree  in  the  high  value  which  they  set  upon 
their  Art,  and  in  grateful  feelings  towards  its  Inventor  ;  and 
it  would  be  a  practical  proof  to  the  American  phoneticians 
that  many  of  the  statements  put  forth  in  that  country  with 
respect  to  yourself  are  without  any  real  foundation. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  a  Committee  of  London  Phono- 
graphers  should  be  formed  to  carry  out  this  good  intention, 
and  I  have  been  asked  to  act  as  its  Chairman,  but  before 
proceeding  in  the  matter  I  wish  to  know  your  opinion  of  it, — 
whether  such  a  Testimonial  would  be  accepted  by  you  ;  and, 
if  so,  as  a  secondary  matter,  in  what  form  it  would  be  most 
acceptable. 

I  remain,  very  truly  yours, 

Cyril  H.  E.  Wyche. 
To  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman,  Bath. 

Isaac  Pitman's  reply  to  this  communication 
showed  a  grateful  appreciation  of  the  kindly 
proposal  of  his  friends,  and  he  described  the  letter 
as  "  one  of  those  rarely  occurring  events  in  life 
in  which  we  recognize  the  Angel  of  the  Divine 
Providence  as  soon  as  he  is  at  our  side."  He 
made  it  clear,  however,  that  he  should  devote  the 
proposed  testimonial  to  the  cause  to  which  he 
had  devoted  his  life.  He  proposed  that  the  fund 
should  be  used  for  building  a  Phonetic  Institute — 
a  home  suitable  for  the  work  in  association  with 
Phonography  and  Phonotypy,  and  in  which  the 
printing  establishment  of  the  Reform  could  be 
housed.  He  considered  that  a  suitable  building 
could  be  erected  for  £1,000.  "  I  am  not  able 
to  build  it  myself,"  he  said,  "  because  to  say 
nothing  of  twenty-two  years  of  personal  labour, 
I  have  given  more  than  twice  this  sum  to  the 


PRESENTATION  149 

cause  in  various  ways."  His  office  in  Parsonage 
Lane  was  most  unsuitable  for  his  work,  and  he 
drew  a  lugubrious  picture  of  the  discomforts  of 
the  place. 

The  Pitman  Testimonial  was  at  once  promoted, 
and  the  Committee,  with  Sir  Walter  C.  Trevelyan 
at  their  head,  issued  an  appeal  for  subscriptions. 
The  sum  of  about  £350  was  collected,  and  on  26th 
June,  1862,  the  presentation  was  made  at  a  meeting 
convened  for  the  purpose,  held  at  the  rooms  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Aldersgate 
Street,  London,  at  which  the  recipient  of  the 
testimonial  attended,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Pitman. 
As  the  amount  raised  was  not  sufficient  to  carry  out 
Isaac  Pitman's  idea,  the  gift  took  the  form  of  a 
cheque  and  a  handsome  marble  timepiece,  which 
bore  the  following  inscription  : — 

Presented,  with  a  purse  of  £350,  to  Isaac  Pitman,  the 
Inventor  of  Phonography,  by  many  friends  of  the  phonetic 
system,  in  token  of  their  high  appreciation  of  its  many 
excellences,  and  of  his  untiring  labours  in  its  extension. 

A  good  many  speeches  were  made,  and  eloquent 
testimony  borne  to  the  personal  esteem  in  which 
the  Inventor  of  Phonography  was  held.  The  Rev. 
C.  H.  E.  Wyche  (Chairman)  happily  expressed  the 
appreciation  of  phonographers  of  Isaac  Pitman's 
untiring  and  unselfish  labours  in  the  dissemination 
of  Phonography.  Had  he  made  his  invention  an 
article  of  merchandise,  he  would  have  been  by  that 
time  a  rich  man— but  then  they  would  not  have 


ISO  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

met  together  to  do  him  honour.  He  chose, 
however,  a  different  method,  and  had  improved 
his  system  and  made  it  known  as  widely  as  possible 
by  publishing  it  at  a  price  barely  remunerative. 
Their  testimonial  was  presented  to  him  as  Inventor 
of  Phonography,  but  they  did  not  forget  his 
labours,  in  association  with  Mr.  Ellis,  in  the 
invention  of  a  system  of  phonetic  spelling. 
Resolutions  in  favour  of  the  Writing  and 
Printing  Reform  were  unanimously  passed. 

The  reception  given  to  Isaac  Pitman,  when  he 
rose  to  acknowledge  the  presentation,  was  most 
enthusiastic,  and  evoked  from  him  a  sincere 
expression  of  gratitude.  His  admirers  were,  how- 
ever, hardly  prepared  for  the  remarkable  dis- 
claimer to  which  he  saw  fit  to  give  expression,  that 
"  he  invented  nothing  and  discovered  nothing/ ' 
that  during  a  thoughtful  walk  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Paddington,  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  Phonography  was  a  "  usufruct  " — "  a  fruit 
of  use  " — and  so  forth.  While  it  was,  of  course, 
true  that  phonetic  notation  was  no  new  thing, 
and  that  the  art  of  shorthand  had  been  in  vogue 
more  or  less  since  the  days  of  Cicero,  it  was  equally 
true  that  Isaac  Pitman  invented  the  system  of 
Phonography  with  which  his  name  is  associated. 
The  disclaimer  was,  indeed,  not  consistent  with 
his  assertion — and  very  just  assertion — from  time 
to  time  of  the  usual  author's  rights  in  the  phono- 
graphic treatises  he  had  written.  This  self- 
abnegation,  though  not  an  unusual  trait  of  Isaac 


FINANCING  PHONOTYPY  151 

Pitman's  character,  and  manifested  on  occasions 
like  the  present,  was,  to  say  the  least,  liable 
to  be  misunderstood.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  he  desired  to  express  a  sentiment  similar 
to  that  which  inspired  his  Manchester  speech 
of  1857. 

The  question  as  to  what  use  he  should  make  of 
the  £350  presented  to  him  led  its  recipient  to 
discuss  quite  frankly  his  financial  position  in 
relation  to  Phonography  and  the  Spelling  Reform. 
"  I  feel,"  he  said,  "  that  I  have  no  right  to  receive 
such  a  sum  of  money  as  £350  and  appropriate  it 
to  my  own  purposes."  Mr.  Ellis  was  the  only  man 
besides  himself  who  had  spent  a  large  sum  of 
money  on  the  Reform.  But  unlike  Mr.  Ellis,  he 
had  not  a  fortune  at  his  command,  and  hence 
could  only  spend  money  as  it  came  in  from  the 
sale  of  shorthand  and  other  books.  He  then 
mentioned  the  amount  of  capital  he  had  borrowed 
(£2,000)  and  explained  how  the  money  had  gone 
in  the  improvement  of  the  phonetic  printing 
alphabet  :  "  The  alphabet  which  Mr.  Ellis  and 
myself  had  employed  until  1851  was  so  defective 
that  type-founders  and  printers  would  not  look  at 
it  as  a  possible  alphabet  for  representing  the 
English  language  in  books.  Mr.  Besley,  the 
eminent  type-founder,  remonstrated  somewhat 
sharply  with  me  for  thinking  to  overturn  good- 
looking  printing  by  bad.  '  Your  page/  said  he,  '  is 
covered  with  little  hooks,  and  tails,  and  triangles/ 
I  spared  no  labour  and  no  expense  in  removing  this 


152  SIR  ISAAC   PITMAN 

obstacle  to  the  general  introduction  of  phonetic 
printing/ ' 

He  had  given  his  means  so  entirely  to  the 
movement  that  if  he  had  not  already  spent  on  the 
phonetic  alphabet  the  sum  with  which  he  was 
presented  he  should  devote  it  to  the  Reform  in 
some  other  way.  What  he  eventually  did  with 
the  money  will  be  related  later  on.  In  the  course 
of  his  long  and  interesting  speech  Isaac  Pitman 
gave  statistics  of  the  sale  of  phonographic  books 
during  the  past  year,  from  which  it  appeared  that 
there  had  been  a  total  sale  of  90,000  publications, 
although  the  demand  had  been  low  in  consequence 
of  the  anticipated  appearance  of  a  new  and 
improved  edition  of  Phonography.  Cheered  by 
the  progress  made  he  added,  "  I  return  to  Bath 
with  a  determination  not  to  work  so  many  hours 
as  I  have  for  twenty  years,  but  to  work  with  the 
same  application  of  mind  as  of  old.  My  hours  of 
labour  from  the  beginning  of  the  Reform  to  about 
a  year  ago,  were  from  six  in  the  morning  till  ten 
in  the  evening,  taking  out  three  hours  for  meals 
and  exercise.  I  have  now  made  a  change,  and 
1  knock  off '  at  half -past  six.  I  intend  to  continue 
to  labour  at  this  good  work  twelve  and  a  half  hours 
per  day,  and,  with  your  kind  co-operation, 
I  think  that  will  be  sufficient  to  keep  the  Reform 
in  motion,  and  realize,  in  the  end,  all  that  we 
desire." 

In  association  with  Isaac  Pitman's  allusion  to 
his  labours  given  above,  Mr.  Reed's  observations 


AN   EARLY  CALL  153 

at  this  gathering  on  his  method  of  daily  work  are 
of  particular  interest.     Mr.  Reed  said  : — 

Those  who  have  witnessed  Mr.  Pitman's  labours  in  that 
remarkable  little  spot  called  Parsonage  Lane,  descriptions  of 
which  some  of  you  possibly  may  have  read,  must  have  been 
struck  with  admiration  at  the  intensity  of  labour  and  of 
earnestness  which  he  has  exhibited.  I  could  tell  you  if  I  had 
the  time,  of  instances  of  it  that  I  have  myself  observed, 
I  have  on  more  than  one  occasion  partaken  of  Mr.  Pitman's 
hospitality  at  Bath,  and  on  the  last  occasion  he  was  good 
enough  to  invite  me  to  his  house,  he  asked  me  to  go  with  him 
to  his  office  the  next  morning  for  the  purpose  of  running  over 
some  proof-sheets  of  a  work  that  was  then  going  through  the 
press, — an  invitation  that  I  gladly  accepted,  as  I  am  at  any 
time  delighted  to  show  him  my  willingness  to  render  him  any 
little  services  I  can  in  the  adaptation  of  the  system  to  useful 
purposes.  We  retired  to  rest  at  eleven  o'clock.  Mr.  Pitman 
asked  me  if  he  should  call  me  the  next  morning.  I  thanked 
him,  and  requested  him  to  be  good  enough  to  do  so.  It  was 
then  in  the  depth  of  winter.  In  the  morning  when  I  was  fast 
asleep  some  raps  came  at  my  door,  which  after  being  repeated 
some  few  times  awoke  me.  You  must  know  that  I  am  not 
one  of  the  "  rising  "  generation.  I  responded  in  a  sleepy  kind 
of  way  ;  the  door  opened,  and  I  saw  Mr.  Pitman's  familiar 
features.  He  entered  holding  a  light,  and  announced  that  it 
was  actually  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  rose  and  was 
speedily  dressed,  but  not  in  so  short  a  time  as  Mr.  Pitman 
takes.  I  joined  him,  and  we  took  a  walk  of  nearly  a  mile 
down  a  very  steep  hill  on  a  cold  December  morning,  under 
circumstances  not  the  most  comfortable  for  sensitive  nerves, 
and  at  about  ten  minutes  to  six  we  were  in  front  of  his  office 
in  Parsonage  Lane.  At  about  six  o'clock  we  were  seated  at 
his  desk,  by  gaslight,  of  course,  and  for  two  hours  we  waded 
through  some  pages  of  the  little  book  upon  which  Mr.  Pitman 
was  then  at  work.  Having  laboured  for  two  hours,  we 
returned  just  as  it  was  getting  daylight,  ascended  the  steep 
hill  leading  to  Lansdown  Crescent,  and  found  ourselves  in 
excellent  condition  for  breakfast.     I  have  no  doubt  that  if  any 


154  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

other  visitor  had  called  upon  Mr.  Pitman  just  before  ten 
o'clock  that  night,  he  would  have  found  him  still  at  his  desk, 
as  absorbed  as  ever  in  the  mysteries  of  the  phonetic  art. 
This  is,  I  believe,  a  fair  specimen  of  Mr.  Pitman's  general 
labours,  under  which  any  ordinary  mortal  would  certainly 
succumb.  And  when  we  see  that  all  these  labours  are  devoted 
to  a  cause  from  which  he  himself  derives  little  or  no  personal 
benefit  beyond  a  bare  living,  we  shall  all  the  more  admire  the 
disinterestedness  which  is  so  conspicuous  a  characteristic  of 
the  man. 


XV 

A   CHARACTER   SKETCH — ADDRESS   TO   THE   BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION   ON    "  BRIEF   WRITING  " 

1862-1864 

There  appeared  in  September,  1862,  in  Weldon's 
Register ,  a  popular  periodical  of  that  time,  a 
character  sketch  of  Isaac  Pitman,  written  by  Mr. 
William  White,  (author  of  a  voluminous  life  of 
Swedenborg),  who  was  associated  with  New 
Church  publishing  work,  and  whose  name  for 
some  years  figured  on  the  title  page  of  the  phono- 
graphic text-books  as  publisher,  in  addition  to 
Mr.  Frederick  Pitman.  Mr.  White  had  a  very 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  Inventor  of  Phono- 
graphy, and  insight  into  his  character.  His 
graphic  description  of  Isaac  Pitman  at  work,  when 
read  along  with  the  reminiscences  quoted  at  the 
end  of  the  last  chapter,  furnish  a  vivid  picture 
both  of  the  man  and  of  his  methods,  which  did 
not  alter  materially  during  the  rest  of  his  working 
life.  Mr.  White  began  by  observing  that  the  name 
of  Isaac  Pitman  would  not  be  found  in  "  Men  of 
the  Time  " — an  omission  that  was  made  good  in 
later  years — and  went  on  to  observe  that  Isaac 
Pitman  had  effected  a  great  work  in  his  generation, 
but  it  had  not  become  "  the  talk  of  the  news- 
papers/'  and  consequently  many  well-informed 

155 


156  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

men  were  ignorant  of  him  and  his  schemes.  This 
assertion  needs  qualification,  but  at  any  rate  it 
afforded  Mr.  White  the  pretext  for  giving  the 
readers  of  the  Register  a  lucid  historical  account 
of  the  Reform  (introductory  to  his  personal  sketch 
of  its  Inventor),  which  furnished  the  basis  of 
several  articles  on  the  same  subject  published  in 
later  years. 

"  If/'  wrote  Mr.  White,  "  we  were  asked  to  name 
the  most  diligent  and  hard-working  man  we  know, 
it  would  be  Isaac  Pitman.  It  is  a  treat  to  visit 
his  printing  office  in  Bath.  Printing  offices  are 
usually  very  dirty  and  untidy  places  ;  but  Mr. 
Pitman's  office,  save  for  its  furniture,  might  be  a 
lady's  drawing-room.  Everything  is  in  what,  for 
some  unknown  reason,  is  called  '  apple-pie  '  order. 
In  a  large  room  sits  Mr.  Pitman  himself,  writing 
an  article,  reading  a  proof,  or  answering  a  letter. 
His  correspondence  is  immense  ;  letters  and  papers 
flow  in  upon  him  from  every  part  of  the  world. 
He  attends  to  all  himself.  Those  who  write  to 
him  in  ordinary  handwriting  he  answers  in  long- 
hand phonetic  spelling,  but  the  mass  of  his  corre- 
spondence is  in  Phonography ;  and  the  speed 
and  ease  with  which  he  writes  enables  him  to  get 
through  an  amount  of  work  which  would  else 
seem  fabulous.  We  wish  we  could  reproduce  one 
of  Mr.  Pitman's  phonographic  letters  on  this  page. 
Written  on  a  scrap  of  ruled  paper,  half  the  size 
of  an  ordinary  page  of  note-paper,  would  be  seen 
a  series  of  lines,  circles,  and  dots,  sharp  and  delicate 
as  if  traced  by  a  fairy,  and  containing  as  much 
matter  as  an  ordinary  letter  of  four  pages.  A 
most  courteous  correspondent,  he  commences  in 


AN   ORDERLY   OFFICE  157 

the  ancient  style,  '  Isaac  Pitman  to  Mr.  ,  or 

Mrs.  -,  or  Miss /  as  it  may  be,  and  goes 

on  to  say  what  is  necessary  in  a  free,  kindly,  and 
concise  style,  closing  his  letter  with  the  simple 
word  '  Farewell/ 

"  Letters  in  this  way  he  writes  off  by  the  score, 
without  haste,  and  with  an  ease  which  fills  one, 
used  to  drudge  with  the  pen  in  the  customary 
fashion,  with  pity  for  his  own  sad  lot.  Mr.  Pitman 
carries  into  his  printing  office  the  regime  of  the 
schoolmaster  ;  he  is  a  strict  disciplinarian.  No 
talking  is  allowed,  beyond  necessary  questions 
and  orders,  and  the  quiet  is  unbroken  except  by 
the  click  of  the  types,  or  the  packing  of  parcels 
for  the  carrier  or  the  post.  Seeing  his  set  of 
apprentices  so  sedulously  and  silently  at  work, 
and  the  prim  order  which  pervades  the  place,  is 
really  tempting  to  one's  mischievous  propensities, 
and  stirs  the  desire  to  cry  out,  '  Boys,  do  let's 
have  a  romp  and  tumble  things  about  !  '  We  have 
sometimes  amused  ourselves  with  drawing  com- 
parisons between  Isaac  Pitman  and  John  Wesley  ; 
and,  did  we  believe  in  the  transmigration  of  souls, 
we  might  imagine  that  the  soul  of  Wesley  had  left 
its  '  world  parish  '  to  write  shorthand,  and  per- 
suade Englishmen  to  spell  phonetically.  Unlike 
Wesley,  Pitman  is  tall,  but,  like  him,  he  is  spare 
and  muscular,  with  bright  eyes,  a  keen  face,  and 
rapid  motions.  Like  Wesley,  his  habits  are 
regular,  and  almost  ascetic.  He  goes  to  bed  early, 
and  rises  early  summer  and  winter,  and  may  almost 
invariably  be  found  posted  at  his  desk  by  six  in  the 
morning.  Except  for  the  progress  of  his  work, 
he  seems  to  have  no  care  in  the  world.  He  sees 
no  company  ;  he  seldom  dines  from  home,  or  pays 
visits,  and,  first  in  his  office  in  the  morning,  he  is 


158  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

last  to  leave  it  at  night.  He  delights  in  walking 
exercise,  and  scampers  over  miles  of  country  with 
the  same  ease  that  his  pen  goes  over  paper.  Like 
Wesley,  he  is  very  abstemious  :  wine,  beer,  or 
spirits  of  any  kind  never  pass  his  lips  :  nor  fish, 
flesh,  nor  fowl.  For  years  he  has  been  a  strict 
vegetarian  ;  and,  but  for  a  cold  now  and  then,  he 
has  enjoyed  perfect  health.  As  if  his  shorthand 
and  phonetic  printing  were  not  enough  to  task 
all  his  powers,  he  preaches  twice  each  Sunday  in 
a  little  chapel,  at  Twerton,  a  village  a  short  way 
from  Bath.  Like  Wesley,  he  has  no  love  for 
money  save  for  its  uses  in  promoting  his  ends. 
His  personal  wants  are  few  and  simple,  and  every 
penny  beyond  what  is  required  for  them  is  devoted 
to  the  phonetic  propaganda.  Like  Wesley  he  has 
a  governing  and  despotic  temper.  In  all  things 
he  takes  his  own  way.  He  hears  the  advice  of  a 
disciple  in  the  blandest  and  most  candid  spirit. 
The  disciple  thinks,  surely  never  was  there  a  man 
more  pliable  than  this.  But  if  he  observes  care- 
fully, he  will  discover  he  has  made  no  progress. 
Somehow,  he  will  find  that  Pitman  has  not  changed 
his  mind,  and  has  rejected  his  disciple's  advice, 
but  yet  so  kindly  that  the  rejection  gives  no  pain, 
but  almost  pleasure.  His  alterations  in  Phono- 
typy  and  Phonography  have  usually  been  proposed 
in  the  face  of  strong  opposition  \  but  he  has  always 
carried  them.  Consciously  or  unconsciously  he 
makes  up  his  mind  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done, 
and  though  he  undergoes  much  palaver  with  all 
the  appearance  of  being  affected  by  it,  he  ends  in 
executing  his  programme  to  the  final  letter. 
Alternately  he  is  accused  of  fickleness  and  obsti- 
nacy :  of  fickleness,  because  when  he  sees,  or 
fancies  he  sees,  a  possible  improvement,  he  will 


BRITISH  ASSOCIATION  159 

pull  down  any  amount  of  building  to  make  room 
for  it ;  and  of  obstinacy,  because  what  he  thinks 
right  he  does,  whatever  be  the  outcry/ ' 

In  some  comments  on  the  above  extract  Isaac 
Pitman  mentioned  that  his  ministrations  to  a  New 
Church  congregation  in  the  village  of  Twerton 
had  been  discontinued,  and  that  he  was  tempo- 
rarily taking  the  services  at  the  New  Church, 
Henry  Street,  Bath,  the  minister,  Mr.  James 
Keene,  being  indisposed.  As  to  the  application 
to  himself  of  the  term  "  despot/ '  he  remarked, 
"  I  feel  sure  that  Mr.  White  used  the  word  in  no 
harsh  sense,  as  implying  the  love  of  rule  for  its 
own  sake,  but  simply  the  love  of  order,  use,  and 
beauty/ ' 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  British  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science  was  held  at 
Newcastle-on-Tyne  in  1863,  under  the  presidency 
of  Sir  William  (afterwards  Lord  Armstrong)  who, 
among  other  topics,  referred  in  his  address  to  the 
waste  of  time  and  labour  attendant  on  the  use  of 
the  common  longhand,  and  threw  out  suggestions 
in  the  following  terms  : — 

The  facility  now  given,  to  the  transmission  of  intelligence 
and  the  interchange  of  thought  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
features  of  the  present  age.  Cheap  and  rapid  postage  to  all 
parts  of  the  world  ;  paper  and  printing  reduced  to  the  lowest 
possible  cost ;  electric  telegraphs  between  nation  and  nation, 
town  and  town,  and  now  even  (thanks  to  the  beautiful  inven- 
tions of  Professor  Wheatstone)  between  house  and  house, — all 
contribute  to  aid  that  commerce  of  ideas  by  which  wealth  and 
knowledge  are  augmented.     But  while  so  much  facility  is 


160  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

given  to  mental  communication  by  new  measures  and  new 
inventions,  the  fundamental  art  of  expressing  thought  by 
written  symbols  remains  as  imperfect  now  as  it  has  been  for 
centuries  past.  It  seems  strange  that  while  we  actually 
possess  a  system  of  shorthand  by  which  words  can  be  recorded 
as  rapidly  as  they  can  be  spoken,  we  should  persist  in  writing 
a  slow  and  laborious  longhand.  It  is  intelligible  that  grown-up 
persons  who  have  acquired  the  present  conventional  art  of 
writing  should  be  reluctant  to  incur  the  labour  of  mastering 
a  better  system  ;  but  there  can  be  no  reason  why  the  rising 
generation  should  not  be  instructed  in  a  method  of  writing 
more  in  accordance  with  the  activity  of  mind  which  now 
prevails.  Even  without  going  so  far  as  to  adopt  for  ordinary 
use  a  complete  system  of  stenography,  which  it  is  not  easy  to 
acquire,  we  might  greatly  abridge  the  time  and  labour  of 
writing  by  the  recognition  of  a  few  simple  signs  to  express  the 
syllables  which  are  of  most  frequent  occurrence  in  our  language. 
Our  words  are  in  a  great  measure  made  up  of  such  syllables  as 
com,  con,  Hon,  ing,  able,  ain,  ent,  est,  ance,  etc.  These  we 
are  now  obliged  to  write  out  over  and  over  again,  as  if  time 
and  labour  expended  in  what  may  be  termed  visual  speech 
were  of  no  importance.  Neither  has  our  written  character 
the  advantage  of  distinctness  to  recommend  it. 

An  utterance  so  notable  on  the  importance  of 
shorthand,  and  a  recognition  so  generous  of  the 
merits  of  Phonography,  was  greatly  appreciated 
by  all  phonographic  practitioners,  and  not  least 
by  their  leader.  It  suggested  to  Isaac  Pitman 
the  idea  of  offering  a  paper  on  the  subject  for  the 
forthcoming  meeting  of  the  British  As9ociation  in 
his  own  city.  His  offer  was  accepted,  and  a  paper 
with  the  title  "  Brief  Writing  N  was  prepared  to  be 
read  before  the  Section  of  Economics  and  Statistics 
on  20th  September,  1864.  But,  as  is  not  infre- 
quently the  case,  there  were  more  papers  down 


LONGHAND   ABBREVIATIONS        161 

for  reading  than  could  be  delivered  in  the  time 
available,  so  that  Isaac  Pitman's  had  perforce  to 
be  "  taken  as  read."  Copies  were  handed  to  all 
present,  and  the  paper  was  duly  included  in  the 
published  Transactions  of  the  British  Association. 
It  was  afterwards  issued  in  separate  pamphlet 
form,  and  as  it  contained  a  full  description  and 
explanation  of  the  art,  it  brought  Phonography 
under  the  notice  of  many  who  would  not  have 
taken  an  interest  in  it  had  it  not  been  introduced 
to  them  under  the  aegis  of  the  British  Association. 
In  the  course  of  his  paper  Isaac  Pitman  showed 
the  insufficiency  of  longhand  abbreviations,  and 
made  some  observations  on  the  respective  legi- 
bility of  longhand  and  shorthand  which  merit 
reproduction.  He  pointed  out  the  insufficiency 
of  any  mere  longhand  abbreviations  such  as 
those  suggested  by  Sir  William  Armstrong,  and 
stated  his  objections  to  their  introduction. 

"  The  game,"  he  wrote, "  is  not  worth  the  candle. 

All  can  abbreviate  if  they  like,  yet  only  reporters 

and  lawyers  do  it.     If  the  game  were  worth  the 

candle,   we   should   all  soon  fall  into   the   same 

contractions,  but  the  truth  is  we  do  not  want  them. 

Abbreviations   were   formerly   in   extensive   use, 

when  fewer  people  wrote,  but  now  they  have  all 

gone  out,  except  the  Latin  et  for  and,  in  the  form 

of  '  &  ' — that  is,  the  letter  e  written  across  t  ;  the 

downstroke    of    '  &/    which    represents    t,    being 

written  first.     With  most  people  who  spend  but  a 

small  portion  of  their  time  in  writing,  abbreviations 

are  not   worth  the  effort   of  mind  necessary  in 
ir- (2284) 


162  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

keeping  up  two  habits  of  writing  the  same  word. 
On  some  occasions  it  is  necessary,  or  at  least 
advisable,  to  write  every  word  fully,  and  if  the 
hand  were  accustomed  in  its  ordinary  style  to 
abbreviate  some  words,  it  would  hesitate  when 
called  upon  to  write  the  same  words  in  another 
manner.  No  one  can  write  fluently,  either  in 
longhand  or  shorthand,  whose  hand  thinks,  so  to 
speak,  how  it  shall  form  the  words.  It  must  form 
them  without  thinking,  and  leave  all  thinking  to 
the  brain.  In  the  quotation  which  I  have  just 
read  from  Sir  Wm.  Armstrong,  consisting  of  346 
words,  and  containing  1,626  letters,  there  would 
be  but  47  letters  saved  by  the  adoption  of  the 
abbreviations  therein  recommended  ;  that  is,  for 
the  loss  of  power  through  occasional  hesitation  in 
the  act  of  writing,  there  would  be  a  gain  of  3  per 
cent.  If  we  were  to  adopt,  in  addition,  all  the 
abbreviations  which  reporters  use  in  transcribing 
their  notes  for  the  press,  writing  a  slanting  stroke 
/  for  the,  &  for  and,  o  for  of,  wh  for  which,  t  for 
that,  etc.,  the  saving  would  be  8  per  cent  addi- 
tional. This  saving  of  11  per  cent  is  of  consider- 
able importance  to  men  who  spend  many  hours 
each  day  in  writing,  but  it  is  not  sufficient  to 
commend  the  system  for  general  adoption.  Long- 
hand is  still  too  long,  and  we  must  recur  to  the 
alphabet  as  the  proper  subject  of  abbreviation/ ' 
Referring  to  Sir  William's  suggestion  that  some 
of  the  longhand  letters  should  be  more  clearly 
distinguished  from  others,  Mr.  Pitman  said  :  "  His 
objection  lies  against  the  n,  u  classes  of  letters. 
Of  the  first  kind  we  have  m,  n,  r,  v  ;  and  of  the 
second  i,  H%  u,  w,  and  portions  of  other  letters. 
The  use  of  r,  in  preference  to  H,  increases  the 
legibility  of  a  rapid  style  of  penmanship.     The  evil 


BAD   WRITING  163 

complained  of  lies  in  the  alphabet — in  the 
numerous  strokes  we  have  to  scribble,  to  get  down 
one  word.  Men  accustomed  to  dispatch  in  other 
things  cannot  endure  a  tedious  style  of  writing  ; 
they  hurry  through  their  work,  and  spoil  it, 
forgetting  that  whatever  is  written  has  to  be  read. 
Writing-masters  distinguish  the  curves  that  form 
the  ny  u  classes  of  letters,  as  over-curves  (n)  and 
under-curves  (u).  Swift  writers  generally  make 
only  under-curves,  because  this  is  an  easier  action 
of  the  hand  than  the  over-curve,  thus  mingling  all 
these  letters  of  both  classes  in  an  undistinguishable 
mass  of  under-curves  ;  but  surely  everyone  who 
has  time  for  longhand  writing,  should  consider 
himself,  in  justice  to  the  reader,  bound  to  distin- 
guish n  from  u,  m  from  ni,  uiy  iny  etc.  ;  and  be 
especially  careful  to  dot  the  letters  i  and  /.  The 
want  of  these  distinctive  points  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  impediments  in  the  reading  of  bad  manu- 
script. I  find  that  I  can  decipher  writing  made 
up  of  under-curves  if  the  dots  or  jots  be  placed 
over  i  and  j  ;  but  writing  that  consists  of  under- 
curves  only,  where  these  dots  are  omitted,  is  hope- 
lessly illegible.  As  a  bad  servant  is  said  to  be 
1  the  greatest  plague  of  life '  domestic,  so  bad 
writing  maybe  called  the  greatest  plague  of  literary 
and  commercial  life.  Not  infrequently  I  receive 
letters,  the  signatures  of  which  I  am  utterly  unable 
to  decipher.  In  such  cases  I  cut  out  the  name, 
gum  it  on  my  reply,  and  hand  over  the  puzzle  to 
the  post-office.  The  letter  finds  its  way  by  virtue 
of  the  other  portions  of  the  address.  Shorthand 
signatures  are  very  rarely  illegible.  Phonetic 
shorthand  is  much  more  legible  than  longhand, 
supposing  both  styles  to  be  written  with  equal 
rapidity,  but  whether  the  penman  or  our  cumbrous 


164  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

alphabet  is  to  be  blamed  for  making  a  mess  of  such 
words  as  minimum,  ammunition,  there  is  no  pro- 
position before  us  for  changing  the  forms  of  any 
of  these  letters  ;  and  whoever  may  propose  new 
forms  must  make  his  script  letters  harmonize  with 
the  roman  and  italic  printing  letters  ;  for  italic 
type  is  simply  script  letters  disconnected,  and 
roman  type,  except  in  the  two  letters  '  a,  g,'  is 
merely  italic  made  upright.' ' 

In  the  year  1864  the  Royal  Society  of  Arts 
held  its  first  annual  examination  in  shorthand. 
Mr.  Frederick  Pitman  was  the  first  examiner, 
and  the  following  notification  appeared  in  the 
Society's  syllabus  :  "  Candidates  beginning  the 
study  of  shorthand  are  recommended  to  adopt 
Phonography." 

The  first  adaptation  of  Isaac  Pitman's  system 
of  Phonography  to  any  foreign  language  made  its 
appearance  in  1864,  when  Sefior  Guilldrmo  Parody 
published  his  adaptation  of  the  art  to  the  Spanish 
language  under  the  patronage  of  the  Argentine 
Government,  which  established  a  hall  for  the 
teaching  of  Spanish  Phonography  in  the  National 
College,  and  promoted  the  use  of  the  art  in 
reporting  the  proceedings  of  Congress,  in  which  it 
has  been  successfully  practised  ever  since. 

A  slight  carriage  accident  on  16th  March,  1864, 
for  a  time  incapacitated  Isaac  Pitman,  and  the 
shorthand  supplement  to  his  Journal  was  sus- 
pended for  some  weeks.  This  was  the  year  of 
the  Shakspere  Tercentenary  Celebrations,  and  the 


SHAKSPERE  TERCENTENARY       165 

Inventor  of  Phonography  not  only  took  a  great 
interest  in  the  civic  honours  which  were  paid  to 
the  national  poet  at  Bath,  but  through  the 
medium  of  his  Journal  on  the  memorable  23rd 
April  circulated  the  play  of  i(  The  Tempest  "  in 
reformed  spelling. 


XVI 

PHONOGRAPHIC    AUTHORSHIP— TESTIMONY     IN     THE 
JUSTICIARY    COURT    AT    EDINBURGH— ADDRESS    AT 

MANCHESTER 

1865-1872 

The  period  of  seven  years  between  the  dates  given 
above  was  with  Isaac  Pitman  one  of  prolific  work 
in  phonographic  authorship  and  transfer  writing, 
which  resulted  in  many  valuable  and  interesting 
additions  to  the  literature  of  the  system,  and  of 
improvements  in  existing  works.  Opposition  to 
the  changes  introduced  in  the  Tenth  and  Eleventh 
Editions  no  longer  seriously  hindered  the  progress 
of  Phonography,  and  the  antagonism  to  the  im- 
provements did  not  now  affect  its  fortunes  to  any 
appreciable  extent.  There  had  been  considerable 
changes  in  the  text-books  since  Mr.  Reed  took 
his  historic  stand  on  the  Tenth  Edition,  and  it 
was  not  easy  to  teach  either  the  Ninth  or  Tenth 
Editions  of  Phonography  by  modifications  of  their 
rules.  To  assist  in  the  continued  teaching  of  the 
Tenth  Edition,  Mr.  Reed  brought  out  a  little 
book  of  exercises  in  1871,  of  which  Isaac  Pitman 
expressed  strong  disapproval.  The  work  had 
little,  if  any,  effect  in  checking  the  teaching  of 
Phonography  by  the  new  books,  but  it  had  the 
unfortunate  result  of  estranging  for  a  time  the 

166 


PHONOGRAPHIC  CHANGES  167 

two  friends,  though  happily  in  later  years  the 
friendship  was  re-established  as  firmly  as  ever. 

With  regard  to  the  improvements  introduced 
into  the  system  from  time  to  time,  Isaac  Pitman 
never  had  the  intention  or  desire — as  he  certainly 
had  not  the  power — to  coerce  any  writer  of  his 
system  to  adopt  the  alterations.  For  example, 
in  September,  1871,  he  wrote  thus  :  "A  change 
in  the  manner  of  writing  Phonography  is  no  slight 
matter  to  a  reporter.  We  do  not  wonder  then 
that  Mr.  Reed  does  not  alter  his  manner  of  writing 
some  few  words  that  differ  in  his  style  and  ours  ; 
and  that  reporters  engaged  on  the  Press  generally 
have  not  adopted  the  few  improvements  that  have 
from  time  to  time  been  made  in  the  system.  To 
do  so  would  imply  a  kind  of  indiscretion/ '  But 
apart  from  those  who  used  the  system  profession- 
ally, it  was  Isaac  Pitman's  desire  that  future 
learners  of  Phonography  should  have  the  benefit 
of  such  improvements  in  it  as  its  more  extensive 
use  showed  to  be  practicable  or  desirable.  The 
growth  of  the  literature  of  the  system,  however, 
caused  some  reluctance  on  the  part  of  his  brother, 
Mr.  Frederick  Pitman,  to  adopt  the  new  forms 
for  kw  and  skw,  which  were  introduced  in  1869. 
It  was  not,  in  fact,  till  two  years  later  that  he 
used  these  improvements  in  the  magazines  con- 
trolled by  himself.  But  fortunately  for  the 
system  and  its  practitioners,  from  the  period  at 
which  we  have  arrived,  and  onward,  no  further 
organic    changes  were  made.     To    the   Spelling 


168  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

Reform  movement  the  same  remarks  apply  gener- 
ally. There  was  experiment  and  consultation 
with  the  Phonetic  Society,  and  this  resulted  in  the 
introduction  of  a  limited  number  of  improved 
phonotypic  forms  which  rendered  the  phonetic 
printing  alphabet  far  more  useful,  acceptable,  and 
presentable  than  it  had  ever  been  before. 

At  this  time  Isaac  Pitman  was  engaged  on  the 
production  of  two  phonographic  works  of  reference 
which  involved  a  vast  amount  of  labour  and 
application.  The  first  of  these  was  a  new  edition 
(the  third)  of  the  "  Phonographic  Dictionary/' 
a  lithographed  work  consisting  of  336  crown  8vo 
pages,  containing  shorthand  outlines  for  all  the 
principal  words  in  the  English  language,  together 
with  the  longhand  spelling  of  each.  A  companion 
work  was  also  taken  in  hand  which  materially 
assisted  in  the  reading  of  doubtful  unvocalized 
shorthand  outlines.  This  laborious  undertaking 
is  described  by  Mr.  Reed  as  follows  : — 

"  About  this  date  (1867)  we  find  Isaac  Pitman 
bringing  out  a  new  shorthand  book,  the  prepara- 
tion of  which  involved  an  immense  amount  of 
labour.  It  is,  in  its  way,  a  marvel  of  industry, 
and  required  almost  as  much  patience  as  the 
collation  of  the  marginal  references  in  Bagster's 
Bible.  Some  twelve  years  previously  Isaac 
Pitman  had  carefully  written  out  all  the  words 
in  the  '  Shorthand  Dictionary '  not  exceeding 
in  outline  three  consonant  strokes  (and  in  Phono- 
graphy very  few  ordinary  words  require  more), 
and  had  them  cut  up  and  sorted  according  to  the 


"THE   REPORTER'S   ASSISTANT"    169 

Phonetic  Alphabet.  From  this  extensive  list  all 
the  words  containing  the  same  consonants  were 
classified,  first  according  to  their  forms,  and 
secondly  according  to  their  position  as  determined 
by  the  principal  vowel.  The  list  was  designed 
to  bring  before  the  reporter  all  the  words  occurring 
under  any  particular  combination  of  consonants 
as  to  the  meaning  of  which  he  might  be  doubtful 
in  his  work  of  transcription  ;  thus  under  p-s-tion 
he  would  see  apposition,  opposition,  possession, 
{com)position ;  and  under  p,  t,  r,  n,  pattern 
(written  by  pty  rn),  patron  (p,  trn),  upturn  (p,  t,  rn). 
He  would  thus  be  shown  the  best  way  of  differ- 
entiating these  words  either  by  position  or  outline, 
the  system  admitting,  to  a  greater  extent  than 
any  other,  of  two  or  more  varieties  of  form  for 
the  same  consonants,  thus  rendering  the  insertion  of 
vowels  almost  superfluous.  The  weight  of  the  MS. 
of  this  work  is  16  lb.  It  was  prepared  by  writing 
the  words  in  shorthand,  with  the  consonants  in 
longhand  underneath,  on  thin  card.  The  words 
were  then  cut  up,  sorted  into  basins,  as  to  their 
first  consonant,  then  as  to  the  second,  and  again 
as  to  the  third,  etc.,  in  accordance  with  the 
Phonetic  Alphabet,  and  pasted  in  a  folio  blank 
book.  From  this  a  fair  copy  was  made,  and 
published  in  a  lithographed  edition,  1867,  under 
the  title  of  '  The  Reporter's  Assistant/  In  a 
second  edition  the  shorthand  outlines  were  printed 
from  metal  types." 

It  is  a  striking  indication  of  the  extent  to  which 
Phonography  was  cultivated  at  this  period  that 
the  business  of  producing  literature  in  phono- 
graphic characters  may  be  said  to  have  been  added 


170  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

to  the  literary  industries  of  the  country,  and  the 
widespread  popularity  of  the  art  was  demonstrated 
by  the  great  number  of  periodicals  and  books 
which  made  their  appearance  from  this  date  on- 
ward. Isaac  Pitman's  own  work  was,  however, 
never  excelled  by  any  of  those  who  engaged  in 
this  method  of  production.  As  supplements  to 
his  Journal  he  issued  from  week  to  week  portions 
of  standard  literature  in  lithographed  shorthand, 
so  that  in  time  subscribers  became  possessed  of 
complete  volumes  executed  by  the  Inventor  of 
Phonography  in  the  highest  style  of  phonographic 
penmanship,  which  were,  with  many  thousands 
of  writers  of  the  system,  treasured  possessions. 
There  were  produced  in  this  way  by  Isaac  Pitman 
the  Holy  Bible  (1867),  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
(1869),  Macaulay's  Biographies  (1868)  also  his 
Essays  (1870),  Gulliver's  Travels  (1871),  "  Paradise 
Lost  "  (1871),  and  a  large  number  of  other  works, 
among  which  were  some  written  by  an  assistant 
(Mr.  J.  R.  Lloyd),  who  was  at  that  time  engaged 
at  the  Phonetic  Institute.  Of  other  workers  in 
the  same  field  the  most  prolific  was  Mr.  James 
Butterworth,  of  South  Shields,  who  set  up  his  own 
lithographic  press,  and  for  many  years  produced 
a  vast  number  of  books,  and  also  monthly  periodi- 
cals. All  the  transfers  were  written  by  Mr. 
Butterworth,  and  some  of  the  periodicals  were 
edited  by  him,  while  Mr.  Frederick  Pitman  was 
the  editor  of  others,  the  most  popular  of  these 
being  the   Shorthand  Magazine,  founded  by  Mr. 


120 


Macaulay's  Biographies. 


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FACSIMILE     OF     ISAAC     PITMAN'S     LITHOGRAPHED     SHORTHAND 
FROM   THE    1870    EDITION    OF    MACAULAY'S    BIOGRAPHIES 


A  SPOILED  TRANSFER  171 

F.  Pitman  in  1866,  and  edited  by  him  until  his 
death. 

The  following  anecdote  associated  with  Isaac 
Pitman's  work  as  a  transfer  writer  may  be 
appropriately  quoted  here :  "  One  afternoon, 
while  busy  as  usual  at  his  desk  in  a  quiet  corner 
of  his  office,  engaged  in  writing  one  of  those 
beautiful  lithographic  transfers  which  the  earlier 
generation  of  phonographers  know  so  well,  a 
clumsy  young  clerk,  in  reaching  for  something 
from  a  shelf  above  the  already  snow-white  head 
of  Isaac  Pitman,  managed  to  knock  down  a  book 
from  the  shelf  right  upon  the  delicate  work 
beneath.  That  work  was  spoiled  and  had  to  be 
done  again.  The  only  trace  of  annoyance  observ- 
able on  the  countenance  of  the  veteran  shorthand 
writer  was  a  momentary  access  of  colour,  which 
passed  off  as  rapidly  as  it  came.  Not  one  word 
of  anger  or  reproach  was  uttered,  and  this  very 
fact,  no  doubt,  made  the  awkward  young  fellow 
feel  more  repentant  than  he  otherwise  might  have 
been." 

Since  1861  Isaac  Pitman  had  permitted  himself 
certain  relaxations  from  the  Spartan  discipline 
he  had  followed  in  earlier  years.  He  felt  it  con- 
sistent with  his  duty  to  the  Reform  to  leave  his 
desk  at  the  Institute  early  in  the  evening,  instead 
of  toiling  on  till  a  late  hour,  but  as  he  continued 
winter  and  summer  to  begin  work  at  6  a.m., 
his  working  day  was  still  by  no  means  a  short  one. 
From  the  date  above  mentioned  he  also  began 


172  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

to  take  an  annual  holiday.  It  was  in  association 
with  one  of  these  that  he  inserted  a  personal 
explanation  in  the  Journal,  which  is  of  some  bio- 
graphical note,  as  throwing  light  on  his  methods  of 
work  at  this  period.  Someone  had  written  an 
article  entitled,  "  Objections  to  Phonotypy,"  and 
he  took  a  proof  with  him  on  his  summer  holiday 
of  a  month  at  the  seaside.  To  a  notice  accounting 
for  its  non-publication,  he  added  a  further  explana- 
tion of  the  reason  which  led  him  to  publish  in  the 
shorthand  portion  of  the  Journal  during  1867 
a  reproduction  of  a  work  once  highly  popular 
among  Evangelical  Christians — "  The  Dairyman's 
Daughter/'  The  issue  had  created  some  surprise, 
Mr.  Reed  records,  because  hitherto  religious  works 
reproduced  in  this  way  had  usually  been  associated 
with  the  Swedenborgian  views  of  the  Inventor  of 
Phonography. 

When  the  time  came  for  this  holiday,  Isaac 
Pitman  says,  "  We  had  been  unable  to  get  a  single 
day  ahead  with  our  lithographic  labours  for  the 
Journal.  We  therefore  took  our  lithographing 
tools  with  us,  sat  down  at  Sandown,  in  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  and  in  a  month  did  seven  of  the  Journal 
transfers.  This  gave  us  an  opportunity  of  taking 
a  fortnight's  holiday,  and  yet  have  one  transfer 
ahead  for  the  first  week  after  our  return  to  Bath. 
During  this  fortnight's  travelling  about  the  island, 
and  enjoying  its  lovely  scenery,  there  was  no 
disposition  to  entertain  arguments  for  or  against 
Phonotypy.  This  little  bit  of  personal  history 
brings  us  to  '  The  Dairyman's  Daughter/ 


"THE  DAIRYMAN'S  DAUGHTER"    173 

"  Six  of  the  seven  transfers  spoken  of  were  the 
last  six  of  the  '  Phonographic  Vocabulary/  It  was 
necessary  to  do  one  more  transfer  before  leaving 
Sandown,  to  secure  the  punctual  appearance  of 
the  Journal.  The  question  to  be  decided  was, 
What  shall  we  take  for  the  subject  ?  The  '  Vicar 
of  Wakefield '  we  considered  too  long  for  that 
brief  emergency.  Had  we  been  at  home  the 
1  Reporter's  Assistant/  now  being  issued,  would 
have  been  commenced ;  but  to  do  it  away  from 
the  Phonetic  Institute  was  impossible.  Being 
in  the  very  centre  of  the  interesting  spot  where 
the  scene  of  Leigh  Richmond's  narrative  is  laid, 
Sandown  being  only  two  miles  from  Brading, 
his  residence,  two  miles  from  Ashey  Down,  his 
•  lovely  mount  of  observation/  and  four  miles 
from  Arreton,  which  contains  the  grave  of  Eliza- 
beth Wallbridge ;  and  knowing  how  sincerely 
a  vast  multitude  cherished  the  kind  of  religious 
sentiment  (considered  as  distinct  from  life  and 
doctrine)  which  is  embalmed  in  this  book,  we 
though  it  would  be  a  gratification  to  such  of  them 
as  read  the  Phonetic  Journal  to  have  the  book  in 
shorthand.  While  admiring  the  author's  piety, 
and  his  tact  in  the  composition  of  the  work,  we 
inwardly  protested,  as  we  wrote,  against  many 
of  the  sentiments.  .  .  .  We  had  a  strong  desire 
in  transcribing  the  book,  to  write  a  Supple- 
mentary Note  to  it  ...  .  but  time,  which 
stays  not  in  its  course,  hurried  us  on  in  our 
ordinary  sphere  of  duty.  We  trust  this  apology 
will  be  accepted  by  those  who  have  reasonable 
objections  to  Leigh  Richmond's  book  ;  and  as 
for  our  Evangelical  readers,  they  will  thank 
us  for  giving  them  this  favourite  book  in 
shorthand." 


174  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

At  this  period  public  attention  was  called  to  a 
phonetic  system  entitled  "  Visible  Speech/'  the 
invention  of  Alexander  Melville  Bell  (1819-1905), 
the  author  of  a  shorthand  system  known  as 
"  Steno-Phonography,"  which  was  noticed  by 
Isaac  Pitman  in  no  unfriendly  spirit  when  it  first 
appeared  in  1852,  but  which — although  it  had 
the  advantage  of  appearing  in  the  early  editions 
of  "  Cassell's  Popular  Educator  "  under  circum- 
stances already  described — did  not  secure  any 
considerable  number  of  practitioners.  In  1866 
Mr.  Bell  read  a  paper  on  "  Visible  Speech  "  before 
the  Society  of  Arts.  "  No  explanation/'  Mr.  Reed 
says,  "  was  given  of  the  symbols  employed  by 
Mr.  Bell,  who  contented  himself  with  explaining 
the  theory  on  which  his  alphabet  was  founded — 
namely,  the  use  of  signs  which  pictorially  repre- 
sented the  arrangement  of  the  vocal  organs  required 
to  produce  the  various  sounds  of  the  language. 
By  this  method  it  was  stated  that  all  possible 
shades  of  elementary  sounds  could  be  accurately 
represented.  Isaac  Pitman  was  naturally  interested 
in  Mr.  Bell's  invention,  and  reprinted  his  paper 
in  the  Phonetic  Journal.  He  also  offered  to  con- 
tribute to  the  cost  of  casting  types  to  illustrate 
the  new  system,  and  invited  Mr.  Bell  to  make  use 
of  the  Journal  as  a  means  of  illustrating  and 
promulgating  his  scheme.  The  offer  was  not 
accepted.  Mr.  Bell  desired  a  Government  subsidy 
before  revealing  the  secret.  This,  however,  was 
not  forthcoming ;    and  the  author  of  the  system 


MELVILLE   BELL  175 

subsequently  published  it  on  his  own  account.  It 
was  a  much  more  ambitious  attempt  than  Isaac 
Pitman's,  and  was  designed  as  a  mode  of  expressing 
every  sound  that  could  be  uttered  by  the  human 
voice,  and  that  by  a  comparatively  small  number 
of  symbols,  having  no  resemblance  whatever  to 
the  letters  of  the  ordinary  alphabet.  But  it  was 
not  at  all  adapted  to  the  common  purpose  of  read- 
ing and  writing,  and  no  practical  result  followed 
the  publication/ ' 

When  resident  at  Edinburgh  Mr.  Melville  Bell 
had  associated  himself  with  Isaac  Pitman's  work 
as  a  member  of  the  British  Phonetic  Council. 
In  later  years  he  proceeded  to  Canada  and  subse- 
quently to  Washington,  D.C.  ;  he  was  the  joint 
compiler  with  his  brother  of  the  well-known  "  Bell's 
Standard  Elocutionist/'  and  his  son,  Mr.  Graham 
Bell,  was  the  inventor  of  the  telephone. 

In  the  early  part  of  1868  a  summons  of  unusual 
character  reached  Isaac  Pitman,  in  the  form  of  a 
citation  to  appear  as  a  witness  for  the  Crown  at 
Edinburgh,  at  the  trial  of  a  well-known  phono- 
graphic lecturer  on  indictments  charging  him  with 
"  falsehood,  fraud,  and  wilful  imposition  "  (anglice 
"  false  pretences").  The  case  related  to  jewellery 
and  other  property  of  about  eight  hundred  pounds 
in  value.  After  a  postponement,  the  trial  was 
fixed  for  8th  June,  and  in  obedience  to  the  citation 
Isaac  Pitman  left  Bath  on  the  4th,  and  reached 
Edinburgh  the  following  morning.  "  The  time 
being  near  our  usual  summer  holiday,"  he  writes, 


176  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

"  we  took  wife  and  family  [his  two  sons,  Alfred,  b. 
1862,  and  Ernest,  b.  1864]  for  the  purpose  of  spend- 
ing some  time  in  Scotland  after  the  trial.  Our 
appearance  in  the  witness  box  was  the  first  experi- 
ence of  this  kind  during  a  life  of  fifty-five  years, 
and  we  certainly  felt,  on  being  sworn,  the  religious 
solemnity  that  should  always  accompany  the 
administration  of  an  oath  for  furthering  the  ends 
of  justice."  After  two  long  wearisome  days  of 
waiting  "  we  were  called,  soon  after  the  proceedings 
commenced  on  the  third  day,  to  enter  the  court. 
The  sight  was  exceedingly  impressive/  '  and  he 
proceeds  to  give  a  general  description  of  the 
interior  of  the  Justiciary  Court,  and  of  the 
solemn  administration  of  the  oath  by  the  Lord 
Justice-Clerk. 

The  testimony  Isaac  Pitman  was  called  to  give 
related  to  the  authorship  of  two  letters  in 
Phonography,  which  purported  to  be  written  by 
New  York  and  Boston  merchants  respectively  to 
the  accused  as  to  his  financial  status.  These  the 
Procurator- Fiscal  sought  to  prove  through  the 
evidence  of  Isaac  Pitman,  and  of  a  member  of  the 
Scotsman  staff  (Mr.  Thomas  Paul)  to  be  forgeries 
written  by  the  accused.  Isaac  Pitman's  testimony 
is  worthy  of  reproduction  here,  because  it  is  the 
first  occasion  on  which  a  phonographic  expert 
gave  evidence  as  such  in  a  court  of  justice.  He 
was,  he  deposed,  by  profession  a  shorthand 
author,  and  had  been  known  as  such  for  thirty- 
one  years.    Through  correspondence  he  had  known 


EXPERT  EVIDENCE  177 

the  accused  for  twenty  years.  He  had  received 
many  letters  from  him,  all  in  shorthand,  except 
the  direction — "  There  was  no  necessity  for  long- 
hand/' he  continued,  "  the  other  being  plainer. 
Handwriting  could  be  more  easily  and  certainly 
identified  in  shorthand  than  in  longhand.  In 
longhand  you  have  one  shape  for  each  letter 
except  y  and  s,  but  in  our  system  of  shorthand  we 
have  five  or  six  letters,  each  with  two  or  three, 
sometimes  four  shapes.  This  variety  of  shapes 
for  these  few  letters  gives  such  a  choice  of  what 
we  call  consonantal  outlines  for  words  that  almost 
every  writer  has  a  style  of  his  own,  which  can  be 
known  by  his  choice  of  outlines.  I  am  able  to 
distinguish  shorthand  writing  with  more  certainty 
than  longhand.' '  From  numerous  communica- 
tions from  the  individual  who  was  undergoing  his 
trial,  he  had  thoroughly  familiarized  himself  with 
his  shorthand,  and  he  affirmed  positively  that  the 
"  New  York  "  and  "  Boston  "  letters  were  in  the 
handwriting  of  the  accused,  and  similar  to  the 
entries  in  a  diary  found  in  his  possession. 

There  was  a  long  cross-examination  on  shorthand 
details,  conducted  by  the  accused,  because  his 
counsel  were  not  acquainted  with  Phonography. 
The  curious  fact  was  elicited  that  the  "  New  York  " 
letter  was  written  in  the  new  style  of  Phonography, 
while  the  "  Boston  "  letter  was  written  in  the  old 
(or  Ninth  Edition).  The  point  the  accused  sought 
to  establish  apparently  was  that  the  last  named 
letter  was  written  by  one  who  had  acquired  what 

W— (a«84) 


178  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

was  called  the  Graham  system.  "  I  am  aware," 
Isaac  Pitman  said,  M  that  a  Mr.  Graham  has 
adopted  my  system  of  Phonography  in  America 
and  called  it  his  own."  "  Would  it  not  be 
extremely  difficult/'  he  was  asked,  "  for  the  same 
hand  to  trace  these  letters  in  the  different  styles 
without  occasionally  mistaking  the  styles  ? " 
41  Not  at  all,"  was  the  reply.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
vowels  were  very  sparingly  used  in  the  two  letters, 
and  there  was  no  writing  in  position.  Isaac 
Pitman's  opinions  were  strongly  supported  by 
the  independent  evidence  of  Mr.  Paul,  and  no 
witnesses  were  called  by  the  defence  to  refute 
their  testimony. 

The  trial,  which  evoked  unusual  interest  in 
Scotland,  resulted  in  a  conviction  and  sentence. 
Great  sympathy  was  felt  for  the  innocent  wife 
and  child  of  the  convicted  man.  Isaac  Pitman 
actively  interested  himself  on  their  behalf,  and 
collected  through  an  appeal  in  his  Journal  a  sum 
of  money  for  their  immediate  necessities,  and  in 
later  years  took  a  kindly  interest  in  their  welfare. 

Before  he  returned  to  Bath,  the  Inventor  of 
Phonography  visited  Manchester,  and  one  of  the 
most  successful  phonographic  meetings  ever  held 
took  place  in  the  Manchester  Town  Hall  on  the 
14th  July,  1868.  The  weather  was  intensely  hot, 
but  the  attendance  was  very  large,  and  Isaac 
Pitman,  who  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Pitman, 
was  accorded  a  most  enthusiastic  reception. 
Professor   Greenbank   was   in   the   chair,   and   a 


ISAAC  PITMAN 
(1868  age  55) 


FRANCIS  BARHAM  179 

remarkable  feature  of  the  preliminary  proceedings 
was  the  reading  by  Mr.  Henry  Pitman — who  had 
organized  the  meeting — of  letters  from  many 
notable  men  expressing  their  appreciation  of 
Phonography  and  the  Spelling  Reform,  including 
one  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Parker  (afterwards  Pastor 
of  the  City  Temple),  who  wrote  in  shorthand  that 
he  had  practised  Phonography  for  twenty  years, 
and  could  "  honestly  recommend  its  study  to  all 
who  wish  to  acquire  a  simple,  philosophic,  and 
perfect  system  of  shorthand/ '  The  principal 
resolution  in  favour  of  Phonography  and  the 
Spelling  Reform  was  moved  by  Dr.  Pankhurst, 
a  well-known  barrister,  and  embodied  a  cordial 
Manchester  greeting  to  Isaac  Pitman,  and  a 
recommendation  to  parents  and  teachers  to  place 
the  time-saving  art  within  the  reach  of  every  boy 
and  girl  under  their  authority.  Isaac  Pitman's 
address  was  of  an  interesting  autobiographical 
character,  and  much  of  what  he  then  said  has  been 
quoted  or  otherwise  embodied  in  the  pages  of  this 
Life.  An  able  address  was  also  delivered  by  Mr. 
Edward  Jones,  head  master  of  the  Hibernian 
Schools,  Liverpool,  and  a  prominent  spelling 
reformer.  He  was  related  to  Isaac  Pitman,  whose 
sister  Melissa  was  Mr.  Jones's  first  wife. 

For  about  seventeen  years  there  resided  in 
Bath  a  gentleman  of  good  birth  and  education 
named  Francis  Foster  Barham  (1808-1871),  a 
relative  of  the  author  of  the  "  Ingoldsby  Legends." 
He  had  lived  in  London  till  his  thirty-seventh 


180  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

year,  and  had  attempted  to  establish  himself  as  a 
solicitor  there,  but  apparently  with  indifferent 
success,  due  chiefly  to  his  strong  propensity  for 
literary  pursuits  and  theological  studies.  On 
leaving  London  he  settled  in  Clifton,  and  when 
forty-six  and  in  failing  health,  he  removed  to 
Bath,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days. 
During  his  residence  in  Bath  a  great  friendship 
sprung  up  between  Mr.  Barham  and  Isaac  Pitman. 
Mr.  Barham  was  a  most  laborious  and  voluminous 
writer  on  theological  and  ecclesiastical  subjects, 
but  he  is  now  remembered  for  his  efforts  to  establish 
a  new,  and  as  he  conceived,  more  spiritual  phase 
of  religion,  under  the  title  of  Alism  (or  Godliness) 
in  association  with  which  he  published  propa- 
gandist literature,  and  styled  himself  "  Alist 
Francis  Barham  M — "  that  he  might  thus  con- 
stantly be  reminded  of  the  nearness  of  God." 
During  his  declining  years  Mr.  Barham  produced 
a  "  Rhymed  Harmony  of  the  Gospels/'  and  when 
he  died  Isaac  Pitman  became  his  literary  executor. 
The  Barham  library  was  bequeathed  to  local 
institutions,  and  was  in  due  course  distributed. 
The  literary  remains  of  the  deceased  consisted  of 
a  hundredweight  of  closely  written  manuscript 
in  the  form  of  prose,  verse,  and  dramatic  composi- 
tions. Isaac  Pitman  conceived  it  to  be  his  duty 
to  his  friend's  memory  that  he  should  rescue 
some  portion  of  this  great  mass  of  literary  matter 
from  oblivion.  He  devoted  eight  months  to  its 
thorough  examination,  and  selected  from  it  such 


SHORTHAND   BIBLE  181 

pieces  as  appeared  most  worthy  of  inclusion  in 
the  projected  volume.  "  A  Memorial  of  Francis 
Barham  "  made  its  first  appearance  serially  in 
1872,  as  a  supplement  to  the  Phonetic  Journal. 
It  was  the  largest  book  ever  issued  in  phonetic 
spelling,  being  a  closely  printed  crown  8vo  work 
of  nearly  five  hundred  pages.  The  "  Rhymed 
Harmony  "  of  the  Gospels  and  Barham's  transla- 
tions of  the  poetical  books  of  the  Bible  had 
appeared  in  the  same  fashion  during  1870-1. 
Much  of  Mr.  Barham's  work,  and  especially  his 
M  Harmony,"  was  edited  by  Isaac  Pitman.  His 
friendship  for  the  "  Alist  "  and  desire  to  honour 
his  memory  led  him  to  publish  a  good  deal  of 
matter  of  doubtful  value  ;  but  as  we  have  no 
desire  to  do  an  injustice  to  Mr.  Barham's  memory, 
it  should  be  recorded  here  that  in  early  life  one 
of  bis  dramas,  entitled  "  Socrates/'  was  read  and 
spoken  of  with  much  admiration  by  Macready, 
although  the  great  tragedian  considered  that  it 
must  remain  "  a  dramatic  poem  and  not  be  an 
acted  play." 

A  few  other  activities  of  Isaac  Pitman  in  the 
period  covered  by  this  chapter  call  for  notice  here. 
In  1866  he  lithographed  the  entire  Bible  in  short- 
hand, and  it  was  issued  serially  as  a  supplement 
presented  to  the  purchasers  of  the  Journal.  A 
second  issue  of  the  Bible  in  this  form  was  begun, 
and  the  New  Testament  having  been  completed, 
the  Old  Testament  was  taken  in  hand  and  executed 
as  far  as  2  Kings  xviii.  25,  when  serial  publication 


182  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

was  discontinued  with  the  Phonetic  Journal  of 
28th  September,  1872.  Probably  through  pres- 
sure of  other  duties  Isaac  Pitman's  hand  at  this 
time  seemed  to  have  lost  something  of  its  cunning. 
He  therefore  decided  to  suspend  the  task  of 
completing  this  edition  of  the  Shorthand  Bible 
till  a  more  convenient  opportunity.  For  reasons 
which  will  be  related  in  due  course,  he  was  un- 
fortunately never  able  to  resume  his  labours  in 
the  production  of  the  exquisite  lithographed 
shorthand  literature  which  had  become  justly 
famous. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  sixties  Isaac  Pitman 
waged  a  vigorous  war  against  a  custom  which  was 
for  many  years  his  bete  noire,  namely,  the  paid 
postal  teaching  of  Phonography.  The  only  kind 
of  postal  tuition  which  the  Inventor  of  Phono- 
graphy would  tolerate  was  that  of  a  gratuitous 
description,  but  someone  had  the  temerity  to 
point  out  that  the  early  editions  of  the  "  Penny 
Plate  "  contained  this  legend  :  "  Any  persons 
may  receive  lessons  from  the  Author  by  post  at  Is. 
each,  to  be  paid  in  advance."  Isaac  Pitman's 
reply  was  that  soon  after  this  announcement  was 
printed  he  crossed  it  out  and  substituted  "  gratu- 
itously." For  a  long  time,  under  this  self-denying 
ordinance,  he  laboured  at  the  correction  of  all 
phonographic  exercises  sent  to  him,  till  the  work 
was  delegated  to  the  Phonetic  Society.  But  it 
never  seemed  to  strike  him  that  the  phonographic 
teacher  was  doing  nothing  immoral  in  asking  people 


CERTIFICATE. 


t3 


I  hereby  certify  thai 

/ 

/ins  a  thorough  knowledge  of  tut/  system  of 


^BMS&fi* 


-  > 


PHONETIC    8HOEXHAID, 


hid  is  a,  qualified  Teacher  of  (lie  Art. 

/  i  yf  '  / 

;  si  A    I  .  i  /  / 1  <i.  n 


($ig»edj 

'V/ 


VJ// 


/"> 


CERTIFICATE    ISSUED    TO    MEMBERS    OF    THE    PHONETIC 
SOCIETY    FROM    ABOUT    1870    TO    1879 


THE  ENCYCLOPAEDIAS  183 

who  were  perfectly  well  able  to  pay  for  his  services 
to  remunerate  him  for  his  time  and  skill,  in 
exactly  the  same  way  as  they  would  any  other 
expert  teacher  in  the  arts  or  sciences.  It  is 
significant  of  the  position  which  Phonography 
had  won  for  itself  at  this  period,  that  arrange- 
ments were  made  by  the  leading  encyclopaedias 
for  fully  exhibiting  the  system  in  their  pages, 
an  enterprise  in  which  Isaac  Pitman  gladly 
co-operated. 


XVII 

SHORTHAND   PRINTED   FROM   MOVABLE   TYPE — 
THE   FOURTH   INSTITUTE 

1873-1875 

From  aD  early  time  in  the  history  of  his  shorthand 
system  Isaac  Pitman  had  directed  his  attention 
to  the  possibility  of  printing  shorthand  from 
movable  metal  characters.  Originally  the  phono- 
graphic alphabet  and  the  characters  required  for 
the  rules  and  illustrations  had  been  produced  for 
the  instruction  books  of  the  Ey&lm  in  the  form  of 
woodcuts,  but  in  1847  it  was  found  possible  to 
use  metal  type  for  this  purpose,  which  was  in 
every  respect  preferable.  A  shorthand  fount  was 
cast  by  Messrs.  V.  and  J.  Figgins,  the  London 
type-founders,  in  which  separate  shorthand  types 
were  produced  for  the  consonants  and  vowels,  of 
which  the  following  are  specimens  : — 

For  an  outline  containing  several  consonants  the 

:hiri::i:  is  tr.rri ti  stTiri:.;  :~  i  rr.t:il 
z.lt.s  A  erti:  :.  _r.  rXT-i-r.zr.tn::  ""tre  "ilt 
by  Isaac  Pi~=z  =  r.i~  i:  :  t  ?h:r.rn:  Iz^r:r-:e 
with  a  view  to  the  employment  of  metal  types  by 
which  shorthand  outlines  could  be  built  up,  bat 
it  was  found  impracticable  to  adopt  this  method, 


ENGRAVED  SHORTHAND  185 

except  in  the  case  of  simple  words  with  upright 
or  horizontal  straight  consonant  forms,  such  as  : 

I  eat,         I-  toe,        a.  ache,        cow, 

where  two  types,  for  a  consonant  and  vowel 
respectively,  could  be  placed  together  to  represent 
a  word.  This  method  had,  as  we  have  indicated, 
been  in  use  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  no 
development  was  now  found  possible  on  these 
lines.  But  it  was,  as  it  had  always  been,  practi- 
cable to  engrave  each  outline  on  a  separate  "  blank  " 
of  metal  of  a  suitable  width,  and  this  method  was 
introduced  in  1873  for  the  production  of  short- 
hand reading  matter.  A  story  or  a  speech  was 
taken,  and  the  words  or  phrases  it  contained  were 
engraved  in  shorthand  on  separate  "  blanks  "  of 
metal.  The  characters  were  set  up  by  the  com- 
positor like  ordinary  type,  and  punctuated  with 
the  marks  used  in  letterpress  type  of  the  same 
size  (pica).  When  the  page  had  been  stereotyped, 
the  shorthand  type  was  available  for  resetting. 
A  number  of  wooden  trays  divided  into  com- 
partments by  strips  of  wood  were  obtained — 
similar  to  the  "  cases  "  with  "  boxes  "  used  by  the 
ordinary  compositor  in  the  printing  office.  In 
these  "  cases  "  the  outlines  are  distributed  in  a 
similar  style  to  the  letterpress  type,  but  with  two 
important  distinctions.  The  "  boxes  " — which 
are  all  of  similar  size — are  labelled,  dictionary 
fashion,  so  that  the  shorthand  outline  for  any 
particular  word  or  phrase  can  be  readily  found ; 


186  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

and  a  shorthand  "  type  "  instead  of  being  dropped 
into  its  "  box/'  as  in  letterpress,  is  carefully  placed 
in  its  particular  compartment  with  the  face 
upward,  so  that  a  word  can  be  readily  found  among 
twenty  or  more  "  cuts  "  in  the  same  box,  which 
are  allied  to  it  in  the  common  spelling.  In  setting 
up  every  fresh  story  or  speech  in  shorthand,  words 
are  encountered  for  which  no  type  is  found  in  the 
"  cases."  The  forms  for  these  words  are  engraved, 
and  in  due  course  added  to  the  existing  stock. 
This  method  of  producing  shorthand  reading 
matter  from  movable  metal  type  characters, 
which  Isaac  Pitman  at  this  time  initiated,  is 
absolutely  unique. 


v  ~|  -/ 


Key. — Who,  that  is  much  in  the  habit  of  writing,  has  not  often  wished 
for  some  means  of  expressing  by  two  or  three  dashes  of  the  pen,  that 
which,  as  things  are,  it  requires  such  an  expenditure  of  time  and  labour 
to  commit  to  paper?  Our  present  mode  of  communication  must  b«  felt 
to  be  cumbersome  in  the  last  degree  ;  unworthy  of  these  days  of  inven- 
tion ;  we  require  some  means  of  bringing  the  operations  of  the  mind 
and  of  the  hand  into  closer  correspondence. — English  Review. 


SPECIMEN   OF   PITMAN'S    SHORTHAND    (REPORTING   STYLE) 
PRINTED    FROM    METAL  TYPE   CHARACTERS 


A   CANARD  187 

On  the  4th  January,  1873,  appeared  the  first 
number  of  a  new  series  of  the  Phonetic  Journal. 
This  was  an  important  departure  in  connection 
with  that  periodical,  and  one  which  to  a  very 
remarkable  extent  promoted  the  cultivation  of 
Phonography  in  succeeding  years.  The  price 
was  reduced  from  three  pence  to  one  penny,  and 
the  small  circulation  of  one  thousand  weekly  was 
speedily  quadrupled,  and  as  the  years  passed  it 
increased  from  twenty  to  thirty  times  the  total 
weekly  circulation  of  the  Journal  prior  to  1873. 
Supplements  in  lithographed  shorthand  and 
phpnotypy  were  discontinued,  but  shorthand  read- 
ing was  provided  in  the  shape  of  two  pages  of 
matter  every  week,  printed  from  engraved  char- 
acters by  the  method  described  above.  As  time 
went  on,  more  pages  were  devoted  to  the 
weekly  shorthand  instalments,  which  became 
an  increasingly  popular  feature. 

A  singular  rumour  was  rather  prevalent  in 
phonographic  circles  in  the  early  seventies,  to  the 
effect  that  Isaac  Pitman  was  not  quite  in  his  right 
mind.  The  Inventor  of  Phonography  made  at 
this  time  no  appearances  at  phonographic  gather- 
ings ;  the  art  no  longer  aroused  enthusiasm  for  its 
novelty,  it  had  settled  down  into  a  business,  and 
the  phonographic  "  festivals  "  and  similar  social 
gatherings  of  earlier  years  had  no  successors.  As 
a  consequence  comparatively  few  of  those  of  the 
younger  generation  who  employed  the  phono- 
graphic art  had  come  into  personal  contact  with 


188  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

its  originator.  Legends  about  Isaac  Pitman's 
untiring  habits  of  work  and  simple  life  were  freely 
circulated,  and  it  was  thought  that  he  was  devoting 
himself  to  the  promotion  of  Spelling  Reform  with 
a  perseverance  and  an  expenditure  of  his  private 
means  that  was  considered  Quixotic.  But  these 
were  unsubstantial  grounds  for  the  apocryphal 
story  about  his  mental  state.  One  of  those  who 
saw  fit  to  disseminate  this  rumour  rather  exten- 
sively— although  he  did  not  originate  it — was  the 
Rev.  William  James  Ball,  B.A.,  of  Harrogate, 
a  member  of  a  well-known  Irish  family,  and  a 
retired  missionary  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society.  Between  1869  and  1871  Isaac  Pitman 
and  Mr.  Ball  were  in  frequent  correspondence. 
In  his  retirement  Mr.  Ball  had  taken  up  the  study 
and  teaching  of  Phonography  with  much  ardour, 
and  had  developed  some  proposals  of  a  compre- 
hensive nature  for  what  he  considered  to  be 
improvements  in  the  system,  which  he  had  dis- 
cussed at  great  length  with  its  Inventor.  This 
had  gone  on  for  some  years,  until  at  last  Mr.  Ball 
thought  the  time  had  arrived  for  the  publication 
from  the  Phonetic  Institute  of  a  treatise  to  be 
entitled,  "  Ball's  Standard  Phonography."  He 
appears  to  have  been,  to  use  his  own  words, 
"  greatly  pained "  when  he  found  that  Isaac 
Pitman  had  no  intention  of  doing  anything  of  the 
kind,  and  he  accused  the  latter  of  having  "  broken 
faith  "  with  him,  and  was  especially  aggrieved  to 
find  his  (Mr.  Ball's)  postal  teaching  very  strongly 


WILLIAM   J.   BALL  189 

denounced.  This  seemed  so  extraordinary  to 
the  ex-missionary  that  he  wrote,  "  some  of  my 
correspondents  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
Mr.  Pitman  cannot  be  in  his  right  mind." 

In  his  phonographic  work  Mr.  Ball  succeeded  in 
securing  the  approval  and  support  of  a  considerable 
number  of  friends  and  pupils  in  all  parts  of  the 
United    Kingdom,    and   on   the    12th   February, 
1873,  he  was  presented  at  Dr.  Heigham's  Harro- 
gate College  with  a  purse  of  gold  and  a  handsome 
timepiece  as  testimony  to  his  valuable  services 
rendered  to  the  cause  of  Phonography  in  pro- 
moting "  one  style  for  all,  and  one  style  for  ever." 
A  great  deal  was  made  of  a  letter  of  Isaac  Pitman's 
to  Mr.  Ball  in  1869,  in  which,  in  the  freedom  of 
friendly    correspondence,  he    observed   that    Mr. 
Ball's  style  of  Phonography  came  to  him  with  a 
new  freshness  ;  that  he  delighted  in  it  like  a  person 
who  learned  the  system  for  the  first  time  ;    and 
that  Mr.  Ball  had  fixed  "  the  outlines  of  those 
words  which  have  been  wandering  about  for  years 
on  the  face  of  the  phonographic  earth  without  a 
home,"  and  so  forth.     When  invited  to  subscribe 
to  the  testimonial,  Isaac  Pitman  vigorously  declined 
to  recognise  Mr.  Ball's  "  improvements,"  and  on 
being  reminded  that  his  correspondence  had  placed 
him  entirely  in  Mr.  Ball's  power,  promptly  replied 
that  he  would  himself  publish  the  whole  corre- 
spondence  in   lithographed   shorthand.     But    as 
he  was  soon  afterwards  engaged  in  a  project  to 
be  described  later  in  this  chapter,   the  subject 


190  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

ceased  to  be  a  burning  one  in  a  few  months  after 
the  presentation,  and  this  intention  was  never 
carried  out. 

Could  Isaac  Pitman  have  foreseen  the  use  to 
which  his  unstudied  letters  to  Mr.  Ball  would  have 
been  put,  he  would  probably  not  have  expressed 
himself  in  such  indiscreet  terms  about  his  corre- 
spondent's efforts.  In  the  advertisement  columns 
of  the  Journal  the  Harrogate  phonographer's 
proposals  were  discussed  with  considerable  warmth 
by  various  correspondents.  Mr.  Ball  desired  to 
introduce  some  absolute  rules  for  writing  initial 
and  final  /  and  r,  and  advocated  position  writing 
to  an  extent  which  Isaac  Pitman  and  the  majority 
of  practical  phonographers  considered  unnecessary. 
The  previously  unused  outline  ^^  (upward  r 
and  m)  "  some  of  us  have  adopted/'  Isaac  Pitman 
wrote,  through  u  Mr.  Ball's  phonographic  percep- 
tion," but  the  writing  of  that  gentleman's  own 
name  with  b  and  downward  /  S  Ball  (as  com- 
pared with  <\T  in  the  text  books)  exhibited  a 
phonographic  "  principle  "  which,  with  some  others, 
Isaac  Pitman  affirmed  he  had  "  tried  and  found 
wanting."  Such  "  hard  and  fast "  rules,  had 
they  been  adopted,  might  have  proved  seriously 
detrimental  to  the  practical  usefulness  of 
Phonography. 

The  large  top  room  in  Parsonage  Lane,  Bath, 
reached  by  "  a  dreary  staircase  of  fifty  steps," 
which  had  been  occupied  for  eighteen  years  as 
the  Phonetic  Institute,  was  at  that  time  one  of 


PROPOSED   NEW   INSTITUTE       191 

the  most  unsatisfactory  places  which  could  have 
been  found  in  the  elegant  city  of  Bath  for  the 
labours  of  a  man  of  Isaac  Pitman's  temperament, 
to  whom  unsavoury  and  evil  surroundings  were 
peculiarly  repellant,  while  the  place  itself  was 
extremely  uncomfortable,  and  unsuitable  for  a 
Phonetic  Institute.  As  his  lease  of  these  un- 
desirable premises  expired  in  1873,  Isaac  Pitman 
felt  that  the  time  was  appropriate  to  carry  into 
effect  his  long  cherished  idea  of  building  a  national 
institute  to  be  devoted  to  the  Phonetic  Reform. 
Accordingly,  in  the  month  of  April,  he  laid 
before  phonographers  a  "  Proposal  for  the 
Building  of  a  Phonetic  Institute  at  Bath."  The 
opening  paragraph  of  this  appeal  read  as  follows  : — 

"  '  Phonography/  a  new  system  of  Shorthand, 
based  upon  the  sounds  of  the  English  language  ; — 
*  Phonotypy/  a  new  style  of  printing  words  as 
they  are  pronounced  ; — and  the  place  at  Bath 
where  the  phonetic  books  are  produced,  known 
as  the  '  Phonetic  Institute  '  ; — are  words  familiar 
to  tens  of  thousands  of  people  in  every  part  of 
the  world  where  the  English  language  is  spoken. 
The  great  value  of  Phonography  in  saving  time 
in  writing,  and  the  exceeding  importance  of 
Phonotypy  as  an  easy  means  of  teaching  children 
to  read  ordinary  books,  are  now  widely  acknow- 
ledged. I  propose  to  call  the  attention  of  Phono- 
graphers and  Spelling  Reformers,  and  of  all  who 
are  interested  in  the  education  of  the  people,  to 
the  inadequacy  of  the  premises  where  the  phonetic 
books  are  produced." 


192  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Following  this  came  an  account  of  the  short- 
comings of  the  existing  Institute,  with  the  observa- 
tion that  "  the  Phonetic  Reform  has  now  outgrown 
the  means  of  producing  books  which  this  wretched 
place  affords. "  Only  hand  presses  could  be  used 
there,  and  machinery  and  steam  power  were  now 
necessary  to  produce  the  books  demanded  by  the 
public.  There  was  the  Journal ,  which  since  its 
reduction  in  price  had  shown  a  healthy  tendency 
to  rapidly  increase  its  circulation,  while  of  the 
phonographic  instruction  books  and  books  printed 
entirely  in  shorthand,  some  80,000,  were  now 
sold  every  year,  and  the  sale  was  constantly  rising, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  Spelling  Reform  and  its 
demands  on  the  limited  capacities  of  the  Institute. 
It  was  Isaac  Pitman's  original  idea  to  build  an 
Institute,  and  for  this  purpose  a  site  was  selected 
on  the  Manvers  Estate,  and  the  appeal  for  funds 
included  a  ground  plan  of  this  and  an  invitation 
to  any  architect  who  sympathized  with  the 
"  Writing  and  Spelling  Reform "  to  help  it 
forward  by  supplying  a  suitable  design  of  the 
proposed  Institute.  Embodied  in  the  appeal 
was  a  passage  of  autobiographical  interest,  the 
statements  contained  in  which  have  been  often 
quoted. 

"  I  should  not  mention/'  Isaac  Pitman  wrote, 
"  the  following  facts  in  my  personal  history  in  any 
other  connection  than  the  present  :  they  seem  to 
be  appropriate  here.  From  the  year  1837,  when 
Phonography   was  invented,   to  the  year   1843, 


THE  INCOME-TAX  193 

when  I  gave  up  my  private  day  school  in  order  to 
live  for  and  by  the  Writing  and  Spelling  Reform, 
I  occupied  all  my  spare  time  before  and  after 
school  hours,  in  extending  Phonography  through 
the  post,  and  by  travelling  and  lecturing  during 
the  holidays.  In  this  period  I  gained  nothing 
by  my  system  of  shorthand,  but  spent  all  the  pro- 
ceeds of  my  books  in  extending  their  circulation. 
From  1843  to  1861,  I  laboured  at  the  cause  from 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  ten  at  night,  and 
literally  never  took  a  day's  holiday,  or  felt  that  I 
wanted  one  ;  and  I  worked  on  till  1864  without 
the  assistance  of  a  clerk  or  foreman.  During  this 
period  my  income  from  the  sale  of  phonetic  books, 
after  paying  the  heavy  expenses  connected  with 
the  perfecting  and  extension  of  '  Phonetic  Printing/ 
did  not  exceed  £80  per  annum  for  the  first  ten 
years,  £100  for  the  next  five  years,  and  £150  for 
the  next  three  years.  During  the  first  of  these 
periods  I  was  twice  assessed  for  the  income-tax. 
I  appealed,  and  proved  that  my  income  was  under 
£100.  The  commissioners  appeared  surprised  that 
I  should  carry  on  an  extensive  business  for  the 
benefit  of  posterity.  From  1861  to  the  present 
time  my  income  from  Phonography  has  been 
sufficient  for  the  expenses  of  my  increased  family, 
but  not  more.  If  phonographers  think  that  this 
labour,  extending  over  the  best  part  of  a  life,  has 
been  productive  of  pleasure  and  profit  to  them, 
and  to  the  world  at  large,  they  have  now  an 
opportunity  of  placing  me  in  a  position  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  the  Reading,  Writing,  and  Spelling 
Reform  more  effectually.  That  which  is  done 
promptly  is  generally  done  well.  Let  us  all 
labour  in  the  eye  of  the  motto — The  Future  is 
greater  than  the  Past." 

13— (aa84) 


194  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Fourteen  years  before  this  an  attempt  had  been 
made  to  raise  a  thousand  pounds  to  build  a 
Phonetic  Institute,  and  in  three  years  £350  was 
raised  and  presented  to  Isaac  Pitman,  as  already 
recorded.  The  project  was  regarded  as  a  "  testi- 
monial "  to  him,  and  he  consequently  took  no 
part  in  its  promotion.  By  steering  clear  of  the 
ideal  of  a  personal  testimonial,  and  by  the  united 
efforts  of  all  working  for  the  Reform,  Isaac  Pitman 
expressed  the  confident  belief  that  this  attempt 
to  build  a  Phonetic  Institute  would  not  prove 
a  failure.  Such  was  the  personal  influence  of  the 
Inventor  of  Phonography,  and  so  persuasive  and 
untiring  were  his  efforts  in  a  movement  of  this 
description,  that  he  was  a  host  in  himself  ;  he  had, 
moreover,  at  the  Institute  the  needful  equipment 
for  bringing  the  appeal  under  the  notice  of  everyone 
in  the  country  who  was  likely  to  prove  a  helper. 

The  response  to  this  appeal  was  immediate  and 
cheering.  The  amount  collected  in  1862  headed 
the  first  subscription  list,  and  was  followed  by  a 
contribution  of  £100  from  Sir  Walter  C.  Trevelyan, 
and  smaller  amounts  from  over  seventy  other 
contributors.  From  week  to  week  additional 
subscriptions,  accompanied  by  encouraging  letters, 
flowed  in,  and  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Ball  wrote  from 
Harrogate  expressing  his  high  approval  of  the 
project  and  his  intention  to  do  what  he  could 
to  promote  it — a  magnanimous  utterance  after 
the  recent  controversy.  Among  those  who  took 
an  interest  in  the  project  was  Mr.  H.  J.  Palmer, 


AN  ACCIDENT  195 

then  unknown  to  fame,  but  destined  in  later 
years  to  become  a  journalist  of  distinction  as 
the  Editor  of  the  Yorkshire  Post.  Mr.  Palmer 
had  come  to  Bath  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  in 
the  Spring  of  this  year,  to  visit  the  Inventor  of 
Phonography,  and  he  found  it  hard  to  realize 
that  "  the  most  universal  system  of  stenography 
extant  "  emanated  from  "  a  wretched  top  floor 
tenement/ '  He  afterwards  read  Isaac  Pitman's 
"  Proposal "  to  remedy  this  state  of  affairs  when 
viewing  the  city  from  Beechen  Cliff,  and  mentally 
resolved  to  help.  Words  of  cheer  and  additions 
to  the  fund  came  later  on  from  many  well-known 
people  throughout  the  United  Kingdom.  Mr. 
John  Coltman,  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  who  was 
a  zealous  spelling  reformer,  contributed  £100.  In 
India,  Australia,  and  Canada,  there  were  many 
subscribers,  and  when  the  last  list  was  published, 
at  the  end  of  1876,  the  total  amounted  to  £1,326. 
While  the  anxieties  attendant  on  his  endeavour 
to  secure  new  premises  were  pressing  hardly  upon 
him  in  the  early  days  of  1874,  Isaac  Pitman  met 
with  an  accident  which  kept  him  from  his  work 
for  ten  weeks,  five  of  which  were  spent  in  bed.  It 
was  his  habit  to  take  a  Turkish  bath  every  week, 
and  on  28th  February  he  burnt  his  right  hand 
and  part  of  his  body  very  severely  while  in  the 
hottest  room.  He  made  an  excellent  recovery, 
but  was  much  grieved  at  the  unavoidable  hindrance 
to  the  completion  of  the  transfer  writing  of  the 
Shorthand  Bible,  to  which  he  had  pledged  himself. 


196  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

From  the  pressure  of  other  duties  this  work  was 
never  again  resumed. 

For  a  time  the  question  of  a  site  for  the  proposed 
Institute  was  a  source  of  considerable  anxiety 
to  Isaac  Pitman,  as  negotiations  in  different 
quarters  proved  ineffectual.  Fourteen  months 
had  passed  since  the  fund  was  opened,  when  "  a 
ray  of  light  and  hope  "  dawned  on  him  from  an 
unexpected  quarter.  An  announcement  was  made 
that  Earl  Manvers  proposed  to  dispose  of  his 
extensive  property  at  Bath,  and  on  28th  and  29th 
May,  1874,  there  took  place  one  of  the  largest  sales 
of  property  ever  held  in  that  city.  The  houses 
were  situated  between  the  Abbey  Church  and  the 
Great  Western  Railway  Station,  and  the  sale 
realized  a  total  of  something  like  £44,000.  The 
property  included  a  number  of  large  buildings 
which  formed  part  of  the  Abbey  Churchyard, 
occupied  chiefly  by  important  business  concerns, 
and  Isaac  Pitman  purchased  a  block  containing 
two  large  houses  known  as  Nos.  6  and  7  Kingston 
Buildings,  at  the  low  price  of  £600.  He  was  thus 
provided  with  a  structure  in  a  suitable  position, 
which  could  be  converted  into  a  Phonetic  Institute 
without  the  heavy  cost  of  building  a  new  Institute, 
which  could  not  have  been  erected  of  the  size 
required  under  an  outlay  of  £3,000. 

Writing  directly  after  the  purchase  of  the  houses, 
Isaac  Pitman  said  that,  "  By  expending  about  £500 
upon  them,  they  may  be  made  into  a  commodious 
and  beautiful  Institute,  or  printing  office,  in  the 


THE    FOURTH    PHONETIC    INSTITUTE,    KINGSTON    BUILDINGS, 
ABBEY    CHURCHYARD,    BATH 


FOURTH   PHONETIC   INSTITUTE     197 

very  heart  of  the  city,  in  what  may  be  called  the 
south  side  of  the  '  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  '  of  Bath. 
The  block  of  buildings,  five  storeys  high,  faces 
the  north,  and  has  seven  windows,  at  uniform 
distances,  on  each  floor.  At  present  nine  of  them 
are  blocked  up, — a  reminiscence  of  the  hateful 
window-tax.  No.  6  being  a  corner  house,  facing 
Church  street  on  the  west,  has  also  windows  on 
that  side,  and  No.  7  is  lighted  both  front  and  back. 
.  .  .  The  extent  of  floor  space  in  the  new  building 
will  be  1,000  ft.  on  each  floor,  giving  a  total  of 
5,000  ft.  This  is  the  space  we  proposed  to  obtain 
in  a  new  building  100  ft.  long  and  50  ft.  broad.  We 
have  arranged  with  the  present  tenants  to  take 
possession  at  the  end  of  this  month  (June).  The 
alterations,  it  is  supposed,  may  be  completed  in 
three  months,  and  the  next  three  months  would 
suffice  to  get  the  Institute  into  working  order — 
to  place  a  boiler,  engine,  and  printing  machine 
on  the  basement,  and  the  different  departments 
of  the  business  in  the  several  rooms  above,  with 
the  necessary  fixtures  and  furniture.  Our  friends 
proposed  not  only  to  build  a  Phonetic  Institute 
for  the  promotion  of  the  Writing  and  Printing 
Reform,  but  also  to  put  in  it  a  small  steam- 
engine  and  a  machine  for  printing  the  Phonetic 
Journal,  on  which  there  is  no  profit  that  could  be 
appropriated  to  this  purpose.' ' 

At  the  end  of  1874  the  premises  in  Kingston 
Buildings,  after  being  for  six  months  in  the  hands 
of  the  builders  and  carpenters,  were  in  a  sufficiently 
advanced  state  of  completion  to  admit  of  occupa- 
tion as  the  fourth  Phonetic  Institute.  The  removal 
of  the  printing  plant  and  stock  of  books  and  paper 


198  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

from  the  top  room  in  Parsonage  Lane  to  the  new 
premises  in  the  Abbey  Churchyard,  though  the  dis- 
tance was  not  great,  was  a  laborious  undertaking, 
and  the  interference  with  Isaac  Pitman's  usual 
orderly  routine  of  answering  innumerable  corre- 
spondents who  wrote  to  him  about  the  many 
enterprises  in  which  they  were  mutually  interested 
was  considerable  ;  there  is  a  touch  of  pathos  in 
his  appeals  to  his  many  friends  for  their  patience 
with  him  under  these  distracting  conditions. 
"  We  have  been  compelled/'  he  wrote,  "  to  leave 
many  letters  unanswered,  and  they  must  remain 
so  until  we  get  fairly  at  work  in  the  new  Institute." 
But  when,  with  his  staff  of  eighteen  workers,  he 
was  in  occupation  for  the  first  time  of  the  building 
which  the  generosity  of  the  phonographic  world 
enabled  him  to  call  his  own,  all  was  not,  alas, 
plain  sailing.  His  printing  machinery  propelled 
by  steam  power  led  to  protests  from  neighbours 
on  each  side,  and  promised  developments  were 
delayed  by  this  cause,  as  will  be  gathered  from  the 
following  communication  addressed  to  phono- 
graphers  by  Isaac  Pitman  on  the  8th  May, 
1875  :— 

"  The  friends  of  Phonetic  Spelling  who  see  this 
Journal  have  sympathized  with  us  in  our  trials 
for  the  past  six  months  with  respect  to  the  labour 
we  have  undergone,  the  great  expense  we  have 
incurred,  and  the  annoyances  to  which  we  have 
been  subjected,  in  our  attempt  to  introduce  into 
the  Phonetic  Institute  a  steam-engine  and  printing 


TROUBLES  WITH   MACHINERY      199 

machine.  These  troubles  have  arisen  from  two 
sources,  first  the  difficulty  of  getting  our  machine 
to  work  at  all,  through  our  having  been  deceived 
in  the  purchase  of  an  engine  and  boiler  that  eventu- 
ally proved  not  worth  the  cost  of  erection  ;  and, 
secondly,  after  we  had  had  a  new  boiler  and  engine 
made,  the  machine  was  pronounced  a  *  nuisance  ' 
to  our  neighbours.  We  removed  it  to  another  part 
of  the  building  to  pacify  the  neighbour  on  one  side, 
and  then  found  that  its  sound  could  just  be  heard 
by  the  neighbour  on  the  other  side,  who  is  much 
more  exacting  in  his  demands.  .  .  .  We  shall 
now  have  to  print  a  Journal  of  eight  pages  at  a 
hand-press,  as  formerly,  till  something  shall  turn 
up,  either  here  or  in  some  other  premises,  whereby 
we  can  employ  steam  power,  and  it  will  not  be 
voted  a  legal  nuisance.  We  regret  to  have  to 
say  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  print 
10,000  copies  of  this  Journal,  containing  sixteen 
pages,  at  a  hand-press  in  the  time  in  which  it 
must  be  produced.  If  the  circulation  should 
suffer  in  consequence,  we  must  bide  our  time  till 
we  have  the  means  of  issuing  sixteen  pages.  But 
one,  or  at  the  utmost  two,  columns  will  be  given 
to  advertisements,  and  these  will  be  inserted 
Times  fashion,  without  '  display/  " 

During  these  troubles,  Mr.  William  Lewis, 
proprietor  of  the  Bath  Herald,  hospitably  placed 
his  machines  at  Isaac  Pitman's  service,  and  thus 
enabled  him  to  print  the  Journal  with  compara- 
tively little  inconvenience  till  matters  were  put 
right  at  the  Institute. 

There  was  considerable  discussion  during  1875 
relative  to  the  re-organization   of  the    Phonetic 


200  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Society,  which  was  initiated  by  a  pamphlet  written 
by  Mr.  J.  C.  Moor,  a  North  of  England  phono- 
grapher,  who  suggested  a  "  constitution  "  which 
in  his  opinion  could  assume  a  national  character. 
Many  phonographers  joined  in  the  discussion, 
including  the  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer  (second  son 
of  the  ninth  Earl  of  Kintore),  at  that  time  an 
undergraduate  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  who 
took  an  important  part  in  shorthand  affairs  in  later 
years.  He  now  advocated  that  "  The  Phonetic 
Society  should  consist  only  of  those  who  are 
perfectly  able  and  competent  to  assist  others  in 
learning  the  art."  Mr.  Timothy  M.  Healy,  destined 
to  become  a  famous  Irish  M.P.,  took  a  keen  interest 
in  Phonography  and  the  Spelling  Reform,  and  also 
in  the  re-organization  of  the  Society.  During  this 
year  he  visited  Isaac  Pitman  at  Bath,  and  for  the 
man  and  for  his  life  work  has  ever  since  manifested 
a  cordial  appreciation.  The  change  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Phonetic  Society  effected  as  the  result 
of  a  prolonged  discussion  was  slight,  but  useful 
so  far  as  it  wrent.  The  number  of  classes  of 
members  was  reduced  from  four  to  two,  the 
"  learners'  class "  and  the  class  for  those  who 
approved  of  but  did  not  write  Phonography  being 
abolished.  For  the  future  the  classes  for  members 
were  as  under  : — 

"  Class  1.  Members  who  write  Phonetic  Short- 
hand, and  engage  to  correct  the  Exercises  of 
Students  through  the  post  gratuitously." 


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FACSIMILE   OF   ISAAC   PITMAN 'S   LITHOGRAPHED   LETTER  TO 
MEMBERS    OF    THE    PHONETIC    SOCIETY 


THE   PHONETIC   SOCIETY         201 

"  Class  2.  Members  who  write  Phonetic  Short- 
hand, but  are  prevented  by  their  other  engage- 
ments from  correcting  exercises  through  the 
post." 

Each  candidate  had  to  submit  a  specimen  of 
Phonography  attested  as  his  own  unaided  work, 
and  the  card  of  membership  issued  to  those  who 
were  admitted  now  testified  that  they  were 
qualified  as  teachers  of  Phonography. 


XVIII 

MAX-MULLER   AND   THE   SPELLING   REFORM — 
A   PROPOSED   ROYAL   COMMISSION 

1876-1879 

The  year  1876  was  with  Isaac  Pitman  a  time  of 
many  activities  and  interests,  and  vigorous  effort 
in  various  directions.  His  special  work  for  Phono- 
graphy consisted  in  the  production  of  a  new 
edition  (the  fourth)  of  the  "  Phonetic  Shorthand 
Dictionary/'  which  was  now  for  the  first  time 
produced  with  the  phonographic  characters 
engraved  in  metal.  Each  character  had  at  its 
side  the  longhand  spelling  of  the  word,  with  the 
pronunciation  in  phonotypy  in  parenthesis,  accom- 
panied by  the  meaning  in  ordinary  longhand. 
The  three  earlier  editions  were  lithographed,  and 
this  useful  work  had  been  for  considerable  periods 
"  out  of  print  "  ;  phonographers  therefore  wel- 
comed the  new  form,  which  admitted  of  further 
impressions  being  made  from  the  type  as  required. 
Isaac  Pitman  had  contemplated  the  publication 
of  a  small  dictionary  by  the  engraved  method 
seven  years  before,  in  connection  with  which  an 
attempt  was  made  to  produce  certain  outlines 
in  accordance  with  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Ball's  ideas 
for  writing  final  r  and  initial  and  final  I.  But  it 
was  found  that  awkward  outlines  were  the  result, 
and  as  a  consequence  the  enterprise  was  given  up. 


SPELLING   BEES  203 

What  this  style  of  writing  was  like  may  be  seen  in 
the  earlier  portion  of  "  Macaulay's  Essays," 
lithographed  by  Isaac  Pitman  and  published  in 
1870  ;  the  outlines  were  not,  he  declared,  "  to  be 
depended  on."  In  this  year  appeared  the  first 
adaptation  of  Phonography  to  the  Welsh  language, 
the  work  of  the  Rev.  R.  H.  Morgan,  M.A. 
(1852-1899),  a  minister  of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic 
Methodist  body.  The  Inventor  of  Phonography 
actively  co-operated,  and  the  work  was  produced 
under  his  supervision  at  the  Phonetic  Institute, 
and  published  at  Wrexham. 

Amid  the  labours  of  this  year  Isaac  Pitman 
found  diversion  in  attending  some  of  the  "  Spelling 
Bees "  which  were  a  popular  form  of  public 
literary  competition  at  this  time.  Spelling  con- 
tests had  not  been  unknown  in  England  long 
before  1875,  but  in  that  year  some  ingenious 
American  hit  on  the  phrase  "  Spelling  Bee,"  a 
designation  which  created  for  the  competitions  a 
wide  popularity  for  some  years  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic.  As  directing  attention  to  the  incon- 
sistencies of  English  spelling,  and  thus  indirectly 
helping  forward  the  movement  for  orthographic 
reform,  Isaac  Pitman  welcomed  the  "  Bees,"  and 
published  in  his  Journal  during  1876  annotated 
reports  of  some  of  the  more  interesting  of  these 
events. 

There  was  a  meeting  of  supporters  of  the 
Reading,  Writing,  and  Spelling  Reform  held  at 
Manchester  on  26th  October,  1876,  for  the  purpose 


204  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

of  hearing  from  Isaac  Pitman  a  statement  of  its 
condition  and  prospects.  The  chair  was  taken  by 
Dr.  Samuel  Crompton,  an  old  Spelling  Reformer, 
and  the  author  of  a  work  entitled  "  Medical 
Reporting,  or  Case-taking/'  published  in  1847, 
which  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  the  second 
work  printed  in  phonotypy.  The  principal  resolu- 
tion was  proposed  by  Mr.  John  Eglington  Bailey, 
F.S.A.,  a  well-known  phonographer  and  an  able 
writer  on  shorthand  history,  and  was  seconded  by 
Mr.  J.  A.  Parker,  who  had  been  shorthand  writer 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Judicature  of  India. 
Mr.  Parker  had  recollections  of  the  early  days  of 
the  Reform,  and  of  Isaac  Pitman's  work  in  Bath. 
He  testified  from  what  he  had  seen  of  his  efforts, 
"  from  earliest  dawn  of  light  to  the  time  when  the 
stars  were  shining "  in  the  perfection  of  the 
phonetic  printing  alphabet  and  the  dissemination 
of  Phonography.  This  work  he  found  was  being 
carried  on  with  the  same  unconquerable  applica- 
tion at  that  time  as  when  he  first  became 
acquainted  with  the  Inventor  of  Phonography 
twenty-two  years  before. 

Isaac  Pitman  in  his  speech  in  reply  mentioned 
incidentally  the  objects  for  which  he  had  visited 
Manchester,  namely,  in  support  of  the  anti-tobacco 
movement  and  vegetarianism  respectively.  When 
the  friends  of  Spelling  Reform  heard  of  his  con- 
templated visit,  they  thought  the  occasion  a 
favourable  one  for  hearing  from  his  lips  an  account 
of  the  Reform  and  its  present  prospects.      One 


"FORTNIGHTLY    REVIEW"          205 

characteristic  passage  of  his  speech  deserves 
quotation.  Someone  had  talked,  he  said,  of 
obstacles  and  difficulties  :  "I  really  have  not 
seen  or  felt  any.  I  have  done  nothing  from  the 
beginning  but  simply  pursued  my  course  of  work 
for  a  right,  true,  and  good  idea.  I  have  paid  no 
attention  to  opponents,  except,  occasionally,  to 
meet  their  objections  as  well  as  I  could.  I  have 
not  felt  any  opposing  powers  at  work  against  me, 
except  the  dead  weight  of  a  long-established 
custom,  but  have  gone  on  promulgating  the  truths 
and  the  uses  of  phonetic  shorthand  in  the  first 
instance ;  and  after  seven  years  of  this  kind  of 
labour  .  .  .  phonetic  printing  was  commenced." 
At  the  date  of  this  meeting  propagandist  work 
had  assumed  great  dimensions,  and  the  total 
output  of  printed  matter  from  the  new  Phonetic 
Institute  was  half  a  ton  per  week.  Ror  the 
production  and  wide  circulation  of  Spelling  Reform 
tracts,  Mr.  John  Coltman,  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
at  this  time  gave  a  sum  of  £300. 

It  was  a  source  of  extreme  gratification  to  Isaac 
Pitman  when  the  Fortnightly  Review  appeared  for 
April,  1876,  with  an  article  by  Professor  Max- 
Miiller  on  the  Spelling  Reform.  "  This  remark- 
able paper,"  he  rightly  anticipated,  would  "  make 
a  sensation  in  the  literary  world,  which  is  wont  to 
look  upon  the  Spelling  Reform  as  the  most 
Quixotic  of  all  the  professed  reforms  of  the  day. 
In  his  attack  on  the  old  spelling,  with  its  absurdi- 
ties and  its  evil  effects,  and  in  his  defence  of  true 


206  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

or  phonetic  spelling,  Max-Mtiller  goes  to  work  like 
a  Teuton."  This  is  absolutely  true;  and  the 
utterance  of  the  great  philologist  remains  the  most 
striking  statement  of  the  case  for  Spelling  Reform 
which  has  appeared  in  the  English  language. 

Max-Miiller  wrote :  "  What  I  like  in  Mr.  Pitman's 
system  of  spelling  is  exactly  what  I  know  has 
been  found  fault  with  by  others,  namely,  that 
he  does  not  attempt  to  refine  too  much,  and 
to  express  in  writing  those  endless  shades  of 
pronunciation,  which  may  be  of  the  greatest 
interest  to  the  student  of  acoustics,  or  of  phonetics, 
as  applied  to  the  study  of  living  dialects,  but  which, 
for  practical  as  well  as  for  scientific  philological 
purposes,  must  be  entirely  ignored.  Writing  was 
never  intended  to  photograph  spoken  languages  : 
it  was  meant  to  indicate,  not  to  paint,  sounds.  If 
Voltaire  says,  '  L'ecriture  c'est  la  peinture  de  la 
voix,'  he  is  right  \  but  when  he  goes  on  to  say, 
1  plus  elle  est  ressemblante,  meilleur  elle  est/  I  am 
not  certain  that,  as  in  a  picture  of  a  landscape,  so 
in  a  picture  of  the  voice,  pre-Raphaelite  minute- 
ness may  not  destroy  the  very  object  of  the  picture. 
Language  deals  in  broad  colours,  and  writing  ought 
to  follow  the  example  of  language,  which,  though 
it  allows  an  endless  variety  of  pronunciation, 
restricts  itself  for  its  own  purpose,  for  the  purpose 
of  expressing  thought  in  all  its  modifications,  to  a 
very  limited  number  of  typical  vowels  and  con- 
sonants. Out  of  the  large  number  of  sounds,  for 
instance,  which  have  been  catalogued  from  the 
various  English  dialects,  those  only  can  be  recog- 
nized as  constituent  elements  of  the  language 
which  in,  and  by,  their  difference  from  each  other 
convey  a  difference  of  meaning.     Of  such  pregnant 


SPELLING   REFORM   INEVITABLE  207 

and  thought-conveying  vowels,  English  possesses 
no  more  than  twelve.  Whatever  the  minor  shades 
of  vowel  sounds  in  English  dialects  may  be,  they 
do  not  enrich  the  language,  as  such  ;  that  is,  they 
do  not  enable  the  speaker  to  convey  more  minute 
shades  of  thought  than  the  twelve  typical  single 
vowels.  .  .  ." 

"  The  real  state  of  the  case  is  this  :  No  one 
defends  the  present  system  of  spelling  ;  everyone 
admits  the  serious  injury  which  it  inflicts  on 
national  education.  Everybody  admits  the  prac- 
tical advantages  of  phonetic  spelling,  but 
after  that  all  exclaim  that  a  reform  of  spelling, 
whether  partial  or  complete,  is  impossible. 
Whether  it  is  impossible  or  not,  I  gladly  leave  to 
men  of  the  world  to  decide.  As  a  scholar,  as  a 
student  of  the  history  of  language,  I  simply 
maintain  that  in  every  written  language  a  reform 
of  spelling  is,  sooner  or  later,  inevitable.  No 
doubt  the  evil  day  may  be  put  off.  I  have  little 
doubt  that  it  will  be  put  off  for  many  generations, 
and  that  a  real  reform  will  probably  not  be  carried 
except  concurrently  with  a  violent  social  con- 
vulsion. Only  let  the  question  be  argued  fairly. 
Let  facts  have  some  weight,  and  let  it  not  be 
supposed  by  men  of  the  world  that  those  who 
defend  the  principles  of  the  Phonetic  News  are  only 
teetotallers  and  vegetarians,  who  have  never 
learned  how  to  spell.  If  I  have  spoken  strongly  in 
support  of  Mr.  Pitman's  system,  it  is  not  because 
on  all  points  I  consider  it  superior  to  the  systems 
prepared  by  other  reformers,  particularly  by 
Messrs.  Ellis  and  Jones,  who  have  devised  schemes 
of  phonetic  spelling  that  dispense  with  any  new 
types  ;  but  chiefly  because  it  has  been  tested  so 
largely,  and  has  stood  the  test  well." 


208 


SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 


THE    PHONETIC    ALPHABET. 


The  phonetic  letters  in  the  first  column  arc  pronounced 
like  the  italic  letters  in  the  words  that  follow.  The  last 
column  contains  the  names  of  the  letters. 


CONSONANTS. 

Eocplo  dents. 

P    p rojoe pee 

B    b rooe....bee 

T    t fa/e tee 

D  d  ....fade dee 

©  c,  ....etch ...ch&y 

J    j *dge jay 

K  k  ...lee£ kay 

G  g  ....lea^cgay 

Continuants. 

F    f sa/e ef 

V   v.. ..save vee 

R  l...breaM..  ith 

3  d...breaMe..tkee 

S     s....hiss ess 

Z     z....his zee 

2     J vicious... ish 

X     3 vision.,  zhee 

Nasals. 
M    m...seem  ...  em 

N    n..,seett en 

TJ     rj...siw0 ing 

Diphthongs  :     ei, 
as  heard  in     by, 


Liquids. 

L      l....fa// el 

R     r....rare ar 

Coalescents, 

W  w....wet way 

Y    y...-2/et yay 

Aspirate. 

H     h...^ay...  aitch 

VOWELS. 
Lingual* 

A     a cm,  far.. at 

H    b alms....  ah 

E     e ell,feru..et 

£     c «le,cir..eh 

I     i ill it 

if     \. ee\,fear..ee 

Labial. 

O    o on,  or...ot 

O   o all aw 

3"    y wp,  cwr..ut 

O    & ope,ore..oh 

U    u foil 66t 

IX  u... food, poor. .06 

ou,      ill,        ai,       oi. 
now,    new,    ay  (yes),    boy. 


With    the    above    alphabet    Max-Muller    de- 
clared that  English  could  be  "  written  rationally 


FUNCTION   OF  ORTHOGRAPHY     209 

and    read    easily/ '     The  passage    from     Max- 

Miiller's    article    on    pp.  206-7    is    reproduced 

below    in    phonotypy   in  accordance    with^the 
alphabet. 

Whot  ei  leik  in  Mr  Pitman'z  sistem  ov  spelirj  iz  ek- 
zaktli  whot  ei  no  haz  bjn  found  folt  wid  bei  sderz,  nemli, 
dat  h\  dsz  not  atempt  tu  refein  tu  myg,  and  tu  ekspres 
in  reitirj  derz  cndles  Jedz  ov  pronsnsiejon,  whig  me  bj  ov 
de  gretest  interest  tu  de  stiudent  ov  akoustiks,  or  ov 
femetiks,  az  apleid  tu  de  stydi  ov  livirj  deialekts,  byt 
whig,  for  praktikal  az  wel  az  for  seientink  filolojikal 
pyrposez~  myst  bj  enteirli  igncrrd.  Reitirj  woz  never 
intended  tu  fertograf  spoken  larjgwej  ez  :  it  woz  ment  tu 
indiket,  not  tu  pent,  soundz.  If  Voltaire  sez,  "  L'ecri- 
ture  c'est  la  peinture  de  la  voix,"  hj  iz  reit ;  bst  when 
h\  goz  on  tu  se,  "plus  elle  est  ressemblante,  meilleur 
elle  est,"  ei  am  not  serten  dat,  az  in  a  piktiur  ov  a  land- 
skep,  so*  in  a  piktiur  ov  de  vois,  prj-llfiftleit  miniutnes 
me  not  destroi  de  veri  objekt  ov  de  piktiur.  Larjgwej 
djlz  in  brod  kslorz,  and  reitirj  ot  tu  foler  de  ekzampel  ov 
larjgwej,  whig  do*  it  alouz  an  endles  vareieti  ov  pronsn- 
sie/on,  restrikts  itself  for  its  on  psrpos,  for  de  psrpos  ov 
ekspresirj  3ot  in  ol  its  modifikejonz,  tu  a  veri  limited 
number  ov  tipikal  vouelz  and  konsonants.  Out  ov  de 
larj  number  ov  soundz,  for  instans,  whig  hav  bjn  kata- 
logd  from  de  veriss  IngliJ"  deialekts,  derz  ernli  kan  bj 
rekogneizd  az  konstitiuent  elements  ov  de  larjgwej  whig 
in,  and  bei,  der  diferens  from  jg  sderkonve  a  diferensov 
mjnirj.  Ov  ss-g  pregnant  and  tfot-konveirj  vouelz,  Irjgli/ 
pozesez  no  mor  dan  twelv.  Whotever  de  meinor  Jedz 
ov  vouel  soundz  in  Irjgli/  deialekts  me  bj,  de  du_  not  en- 
rig  de  larjgwej,  az  ssg,  dat  iz,  de  dq,  not  eneber  de  spjker 
tu  konve  merr  miniiit  Jedz  ov  lot  dan  de  twelv  tipikal 
sirjgel  vouelz. 

i4-(2a84) 


210  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

Max-Miiller's  paper  was  re-printed  by  Isaac 
Pitman  with  some  additional  matter  incorporated 
by  its  author,  including  an  account  of  Mr.  Jones's 
project  for  improving  the  existing  orthography 
without  the  addition  of  new  letters  to  the  alphabet. 
His  only  doubt  about  this  scheme,  Max-Miiller 
said,  was  whether  "  a  small  measure  of  reform 
would  be  carried  more  easily  than  a  complete 
reform."  He  also  directed  attention  to  Dr.  J.  W. 
Martin's  narrative  of  the  successful  experiments 
in  teaching  reading  by  phonetic  books  carried  out 
under  the  doctor's  supervision  in  the  Infant 
National  School  of  Portlaw,  co.  Waterford.  Mr. 
Ellis's  system,  referred  to  by  Max-Miiller,  was  a 
method  of  using  the  letters  of  the  common 
alphabet,  which  the  inventor  thus  described  : 
"  My  Glossic  was  invented  for  the  purpose  of 
writing  all  our  dialects  in  one  alphabet."  It  was 
not  primarily  an  educational  instrument. 

Within  a  few  months  of  the  publication  of  Max- 
Miiller's  article,  the  Spelling  Reform  question  was 
brought  before  the  country  in  a  fashion  which 
afforded  Isaac  Pitman  reasonable  grounds  for 
anticipating  that  at  last  his  unwearied  labours 
were  to  be  rewarded ;  that  at  least  an  inquiry 
would  be  made  by  the  Government  of  the  day 
into  the  practicability  of  improving  English 
orthography.  But  unfortunately  there  are  three 
great  obstacles  to  reform.  One  of  these  is  the  fact 
that  there  is  no  official  body  whose  function  it  is 
to    make    those    improvements    in    the    English 


SCHOOL  BOARDS   AND   SPELLING  211 

language  and  its  representation  which  the  lapse 
of  time  demands.  The  second  obstacle  is  the 
great  diversity  of  projects  for  improving  our 
spelling  which  are  put  forward  by  reformers,  who 
have  never  agreed  on  any  single  scheme.  Isaac 
Pitman,  however,  in  spite  of  the  approval  of  Max- 
Muller  of  full  phonotypy,  was  not  so  wedded  to 
his  own  scheme  but  that  he  was  prepared  to  agree  to 
an  instalment  of  reform  from  whatever  quarter  it 
came,  and  he  showed  his  sincerity  by  exhibiting  in 
his  Journal  methods  devised  by  himself  and  others 
for  improving  English  spelling  with  the  minimum 
of  change  in  the  shape  of  new  letters,  or,  in  fact, 
without  new  letters  at  all.  The  third  obstacle  to 
reform  is  the  immense  dead  weight  of  vested 
interest  opposition,  from  the  Universities  down- 
ward, and  on  the  part  of  all  engaged  in  the  pro- 
duction or  sale  of  periodicals  and  books.  In  asso- 
ciation with  the  occurrences  described  below,  Isaac 
Pitman  on  1st  January,  1877,  addressed  a  mani- 
festo on  the  Spelling  question  to  all  the  School 
Boards  in  England  and  Wales.  The  episodes  of 
this  period  mark  the  zenith  of  the  Spelling  Reform 
movement  in  England  ;  Mr.  Reed  was  a  partici- 
pator in  and  the  historian  of  them,  and  has  ably 
summarized  what  then  took  place  in  the  following 
passages  : — 

1  In  the  London  School  Board  a  movement  was 
inaugurated  by  Dr.  Gladstone,  Dr.  Angus,  and 
other  spelling  reformers.  Great  dissatisfaction 
had  been  expressed  at   the  results  obtained  in 


212  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Board  Schools  in  regard  to  the  teaching  of  reading 
and  spelling,  and  attention  was  directed  to  the 
subject  at  various  meetings  of  the  Board.  A 
proposal  was  made  for  a  memorial  to  the  Govern- 
ment requesting  the  appointment  of  a  Royal 
Commission,  and  a  circular  was  sent  to  the  School 
Boards  throughout  the  country  requesting  their 
opinion  as  to  the  propriety  of  such  a  step.  The 
majority  of  the  277  Boards  appealed  to  were 
against  the  proposal,  but  100  were  in  its  favour — 
a  remarkable  evidence  of  the  extent  to  which  the 
Spelling  Reform  had  gained  adherents  among  the 
educationists  of  the  country.  Notwithstanding 
the  adverse  replies  of  the  majority  of  the  country 
School  Boards,  the  London  School  Board,  on  the 
14th  March,  1877,  passed  a  resolution,  proposed 
by  Dr.  Gladstone,  for  the  nomination  of  a  Select 
Committee  to  draw  up  a  memorial  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Royal  Commission.  The  Committee 
met  in  due  course,  and  drew  up  a  memorial,  which 
was  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  School  Board  on 
the  25th  of  July.  In  this  memorial  it  was  recom- 
mended that  the  Government  should  be  moved  to 
issue  a  Royal  Commission  for  considering  the  best 
method  of  reforming  and  simplifying  English  spell- 
ing. It  was  urged  that  the  results  of  primary 
education  in  England  and  Wales  were  far  from 
being  satisfactory,  and  that  several  of  Her 
Majesty's  Inspectors  had  attributed  this  poor 
success  in  a  great  measure  to  the  difficulties  caused 
by  our  present  unsystematic  spelling.  Many 
eminent  scholars,  many  of  the  leading  philologists 
of  England  and  America,  and  the  National  Union 
of  Elementary  Teachers,  had  all  affirmed  the 
necessity  of  some  change.  Italy  and  some  other 
countries  had  long  had  very  simple  systems  of 


SPELLING   REFORM   CONFERENCE  213 

spelling ;  and  others,  such  as  Holland  and  Spain, 
had  recently  effected  great  reforms.  In  Germany 
the  report  of  a  conference  on  spelling  reform,  con- 
vened by  Dr.  Falk,  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion in  Prussia,  was  being  circulated.  The  time, 
therefore,  seemed  to  have  come  for  inquiry  whether 
something  could  not  be  done  in  the  same  direction 
for  English-speaking  children.  This  memorial 
was  signed  by  J.  H.  Gladstone,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee,  Joseph  Angus,  and  John  Rodgers. 

"  In  the  same  year,  1877,  an  important  Confer- 
ence was  held  at  the  Rooms  of  the  Society  of  Arts, 
London,  on  the  29th  May,  on  the  subject  of  Spelling 
Reform,  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Sayce,  Professor  of 
Philology,  Oxford,  presiding.  The  primary  object 
of  the  Conference  was  to  support  the  request  of 
the  London  School  Board  for  the  appointment  of 
a  Royal  Commission  to  inquire  into  the  subject  of 
English  Spelling.  It  was  stated  by  Mr.  Edward 
Jones,  the  hon.  secretary,  that  the  idea  of  such  a 
Commission  had  been  mooted  ten  years  previously 
by  Mr.  Russell  Martineau,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Philological  Society,  and  had  been  supported  by 
the  Rev.  J.  Rice  Byrne,  M.A.,  one  of  Her 
Majesty's  Inspectors  of  Schools,  and  that  from 
that  time  the  idea  had  gained  general  acceptance 
with  the  Society  of  Arts  and  other  educational 
institutions.  Among  the  letters  read  at  the 
Conference  was  one  from  the  Right  Hon.  Robert 
Lowe,  which  appeared  to  be  a  reply  to  a  question 
put  by  Max-Mxiller — '  Is  there  no  statesman  in 
England  sufficiently  proof  against  ridicule  to  call 
the  attention  of  Parliament  to  what  is  a  growing 
national  misfortune  ? '  '  I  am  not  afraid  of 
ridicule/  said  Mr.  Lowe,  '  and  I  have  a  strong 
opinion  on  the  spelling  question.  .  .  .  There  are, 


214  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

I  am  informed,  39  [40]  sounds  in  the  English 
language.  There  are  24  letters.  I  think  that 
each  letter  should  represent  one  sound,  that  15 
[16]  new  letters  should  be  added,  so  that  there  be 
a  letter  for  every  sound,  and  that  every  one 
should  write  as  he  speaks.'  The  Bishop  of 
Exeter  also  wrote  expressing  sympathy  with 
the  movement,  but  suggesting  that  there  should 
be  a  minimum  of  change  with  no  new  characters, 
and  only  the  introduction  of  a  few  diacritical 
marks.' ' 

One  of  the  earliest  speakers  at  the  Conference 
was  Isaac  Pitman,  who  began  his  remarks  by 
observing  :  "  Nothing  that  can  occur  this  day 
can  possibly  afford  me  more  gratification  than  the 
letter  of  Mr.  Lowe,  which  our  Hon.  Secretary  has 
just  read.  I  feared  there  was  not  a  man  among 
the  650  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  that 
would  lead  us  on  to  victory  ;  but  Mr.  Lowe  is  the 
man ;  and  without  meaning  any  disrespect  to 
Bishop  Temple,  I  must  say  that  Mr.  Lowe's  letter, 
when  weighed  against  the  letter  of  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter,  makes  the  latter  kick  the  beam  instantly. 
You  will  observe  that  there  are  two  distinct 
opinions  expressed  in  those  letters.  The  Bishop 
of  Exeter  says :  '  Introduce  no  new  letters,  but  use 
diacritic  marks  :  '  we  should  wTant  fifteen  marked 
letters.  I  will  venture  to  say  that  the  Bishop  has 
never  written  a  single  page  with  the  diacritic 
marks  which  he  thinks  might  do.  Mr.  Lowe,  on 
the  other  hand,  takes  the  common-sense  view  of 
the  question,  and  says  that  as  there  are  fifteen 


SPELLING  AND   LOSS   OF  TIME     215 

sounds  without  representative  signs,  they  must 
have  them  as  a  matter  of  course.  I  shall  not  say 
a  single  word  on  behalf  of  any  particular  alphabet 
— the  question  of  signs  for  the  sounds  is  tabooed 
for  the  day.  All  that  we  have  to  do  to-day  is  to 
state  our  case — to  show  the  reason  for  the  Spelling 
Reform  movement,  and  back  up  the  London  School 
Board  in  their  application  to  Government  for  a 
Royal  Commission  of  inquiry  ;  and  I  certainly 
think  that  our  Government  will  be  unable  to 
refuse  the  application/' 

The  particular  topic  on  which  Isaac  Pitman  was 
invited  to  speak  for  ten  minutes  was  "  The  loss 
of  time  caused  by  the  current  spelling/'  and  he 
proceeded  to  show  with  abundant  illustrations, 
for  which  he  was  never  at  a  loss  in  his  public 
addresses,  that  time  was  wasted  in  learning  to 
read,  to  spell,  and  to  write.  Other  speakers  at 
the  meeting  included  Sir  Charles  Reed  (the  Chair- 
man of  the  London  School  Board) ;  Dr.  Glad- 
stone ;  Signor  Tito  Pagliardini  (an  Italian  scholar 
who  with  pen  and  voice  advocated  English  spelling 
reform) ;  the  Rev.  John  Curwen  (of  Tonic  Sol-fa 
fame)  ;  and  Mr.  William  Storr  (of  The  Times 
reporting  staff,  an  old  phonographer  and  friend  of 
the  inventor  of  the  art,  and  a  strong  spelling 
reformer). 

"  These  were  not  (to  again  quote  Mr.  Reed)  the 
only  public  proceedings  in  connection  with  the 
Spelling  Reform  movement  in  1877  ;  for  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Social  Science  Association,  held  in 


216  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

London,  on  the  5th  February  that  year,  papers 
on  the  subject  were  read  by  Mr.  E.  Jones  and  Mr. 
W.  Storr.  These  proceedings  were  reported  at 
considerable  length  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day, 
and  many  leaders  and  magazine  articles  were  de- 
voted to  the  subject.  Many  of  the  leading  news- 
papers spoke  favourably  of  the  movement,  and 
even  The  Times  went  so  far  as  to  recommend  that 
children  should  be,  at  any  rate,  taught  to  read 
and  write  in  the  first  three  standards  on  '  the  easy 
phonetic  plan/ 

"  It  was  not  until  early  in  the  following  year, 
1878,  that  the  Spelling  Reform  question  in  con- 
nection with  Board  School  teaching  was  brought 
before  the  Government.  On  the  18th  of  January, 
the  Lord  President  of  the  Council  (the  Duke  of 
Richmond  and  Gordon)  and  Viscount  Sandon 
received  a  deputation  at  the  Privy  Council  from 
the  London  and  many  other  School  Boards, 
and  another  from  the  Society  of  Arts.  The  depu- 
tations consisted  of  about  a  hundred  gentlemen 
from  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  represent- 
ing various  educational  bodies.  Mr.  Pitman,  his 
brother  Frederick,  Mr.  Ellis,  Sir  Charles  Reed, 
Dr.  Gladstone,  Mr.  Rathbone,  M.P.  (representing 
the  School  Board),  and  Mr.  Richard,  M.P.  (who 
expressed  the  bewilderment  of  the  Welsh  people 
on  the  subject  of  English  spelling)  were  among  the 
company  present.  The  various  speakers  were 
listened  to  with  great  attention,  and  the  Lord 
President  promised,  in  the  stereotyped  form,  but 
with  great  courtesy,  that  he  would  lay  before  the 
Cabinet  the  views  that  had  been  communicated 
to  him.  Nothing  further  came  of  the  matter. 
No  Royal  Commission  was  appointed ;  but  the 
subject  had  been  thoroughly  ventilated,  and  a 


SPELLING  REFORM  ASSOCIATION  217 

great  deal  done  to  clear  the  ground  for  future 
action  in  the  same  direction.  • 

"  The  presentation  of  the  memorial  to  the  Lord 
President  was  soon  followed  (in  1879)  by  the 
formation  of  the  Spelling  Reform  Association  in 
London,  under  auspices  which  seemed  to  promise 
a  successful  result.  Mr.  Pitman,  of  course,  joined 
its  ranks,  and  occasionally  assisted  in  its  delibera- 
tions. Among  the  other  well-known  men  who 
allied  themselves  with  the  Society  were  Lord 
Tennyson,  Professor  Max-Muller,  Professor  Sayce, 
Dr.  J.  H.  Gladstone,  Mr.  A.  J.  Ellis,  Charles 
Darwin,  Dr.  R.  G.  Latham,  Professor  Skeat,  Mr. 
Westlake,  Q.C.,  Dr.  Charles  Mackay,  Professor 
Candy,  M.A.,  Rev.  John  Rodgers,  Dr.  Hunter,  etc. 

"  It  is  not  necessary  to  write  the  history  of  the 
Spelling  Reform  Association  in  connection  with 
the  biography  of  Isaac  Pitman  ;  but  it  cannot  be 
passed  over.  Its  career,  which  promised  to  be  a 
brilliant  one,  was  short  and  unsatisfactory. 
During  the  first  year  or  two  of  its  existence  it  was 
the  means  of  drawing  a  good  deal  of  attention  to 
the  question  of  a  reformed  orthography.  It 
published  a  number  of  pamphlets  and  leaflets,  and 
held  a  few  public  meetings  at  which  addresses 
were  delivered  by  men  of  great  distinction.  But 
its  efforts  were  a  good  deal  frittered  away  in 
academic  discussions  on  the  minutiae  of  Phonetics, 
instead  of  being  directed  to  more  practical  work. 
As  in  the  case  of  most  reforms,  great  differences  of 
opinion  existed  as  to  the  precise  manner  in  which 
phonetic  spelling  should  be  carried  out ;  and 
notwithstanding  the  appointment  of  endless  sub- 
committees with  the  view  of  reconciling  these 
differences,  no  definite  line  of  action  was  taken  ; 
and,  after  a  few  years  of  fitful  and  spasmodic 


218  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

effort,  the  Association  collapsed.  Though  several 
attempts  were  made  to  galvanize  it  into  renewed 
activity  they  were  wholly  unsuccessful." 

The  appearance  of  a  letter  in  The  Times  over 
the  signature  of  Eizak  Pitman,  dated  from  the 
"  Fonetik  Institiut,  Bath/'  and  spelled  "  fonetik- 
ali  "  as  was,  he  explained,  his  custom,  led  to  some 
facetious  observations  in  Punch  of  15th  February, 
1879,  which  remarked  of  the  letter  that — 

It  is  mainly  a  commendation  of  Vegetarianism  and  Teetotal- 
ism,  which  he,  being  now  "  siksti-feiv  yeerz  of  aij,"  has 
practised  for  the  last  forty  years.     He  testifies  that : — 

"  Theez  forti  yearz  have  been  spent  in  kontineus  laibor  in 
konekshon  with  the  invenshon  and  propagashon  ov  mei  sistem 
ov  fonetik  shorthand  and  fonetik  spelling,  korrespondens,  and 
the  editoarial  deutiz  ov  mei  weekli  jurnal." 

His  "  weekli  jurnal  "  is  of  course  the  Fonetik  Nuz,  still  alive 
and  kicking,  as  the  People  say — kicking  against  etymology  and 
common  sense.  Its  longevity  seems  even  more  wonderful  than 
its  editor's  survival  of  his  "  forti  yeerz  "  regimen  to  the  "  aij  " 
of  "  siksti-feiv."  His  circulation  has  been  maintained  on  that 
regimen,  but  what  can  have  supported  that  of  his  paper  ? 

Spelling  Bees  have  for  some  time  dropped  out  of  vogue,  or 
else  a  "  Fonetik  "  Spelling  Bee  might  answer  Mr.  Pitman's 
purpose  of  propagating  his  peculiar  orthography.  He  would 
not,  of  course,  be  deterred  from  that  expedient  by  any  remark 
which  might  po  ssibly  be  made  that  he  had  a  Spelling  Bee  in  his 
bonnet. 

Punch  seemed  oblivious  of  the  many  things 
which  had  happened  in  association  with  phonetic 
spelling  since  Mr.  Ellis's  periodical  appeared  for  the 
last  time  thirty  years  before  ;  and  that  the  widely 
circulated  Phonetic  Journal  should  have  so  entirely 


"  PUNCH  u  AND  SPELLING  REFORM   219 

escaped  its  notice  was  certainly  remarkable.  Isaac 
Pitman's  brief  comment  on  Punch's  humour  was 
as  follows  :    "  On  the  publication  of  this  article,  a 


AN    EVERGREEN     VEGETARIAN 

(Reproduced  by  special  permission  of  the  Proprietors  of 

11  Punch.") 

friend  of  the  Spelling  Reform  sent  a  copy  of  the 
Phonetic  Journal  to  the  editor  of  Punch,  with  the 
sensible  recommendation  that  he  should  keep 
abreast  of  the  times/ ' 


220  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Through  the  death  of  Sir  Walter  C.  Trevelyan 
in  1879,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two,  Isaac 
Pitman  lost  a  friend  who  had  with  singular 
disinterestedness  given  valued  support  at  a  time 
when  the  Reform  movement  most  needed  it,  and 
who  had  been  for  twenty  years  the  President  of 
the  Phonetic  Society.  Professor  Max-Miiller  was 
invited  to  fill  the  position  rendered  vacant  by 
the  death  of  Sir  Walter,  and  readily  consented 
to  do  so.  At  this  time  a  slight  change  was  made 
in  the  constitution  of  the  Society,  and  the  state- 
ment that  members  were  qualified  to  teach  was 
removed  from  the  certificate  of  membership. 
Isaac  Pitman  paid  a  visit  to  Oxford  as  the  guest 
of  Professor  Max-Miiller  in  1876,  and  was  keenly 
interested  in  all  that  his  host  showed  him  of  the 
ancient  University. 

The  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  intro- 
duction of  printing  into  England  by  William 
Caxton  was  marked  by  an  exhibition  at  South 
Kensington  in  the  summer  of  1877,  to  which  Isaac 
Pitman  obtained  permission  to  send  phonotypic 
literature  for  distribution,  and  as  this  included  an 
illustrated  life  of  Caxton  in  reformed  spelling, 
there  was  a  considerable  demand  for  the  novelty. 
In  this  year  also  he  received  a  visit  at  Bath  from 
Professor  J.  D.  Everitt,  of  Queen's  College,  Belfast, 
who  had  invented  a  system  of  shorthand  in  the 
early  fifties,  first  circulated  privately  and  in  1877 
published  in  the  ordinary  way. 

At  this  time  Isaac  Pitman  made  a  change  in  his 


X 
H 
< 

X 

Q 
< 

O 
X 

X 

w 

H 


X 
< 


Q 

O 
O 

w 

N 


HAZELWOOD  221 

residence.  After  living  in  various  parts  of  Bath, 
since  leaving  Lansdown  Terrace  in  1858,  he  had 
for  a  considerable  time  made  his  home  at  No.  3 
Darlington  Place,  Bathwick.  Not  far  distant 
from  this,  he,  in  1879,  built  a  house  in  the  War- 
minster Road.  He  named  his  residence  after  the 
school  conducted  by  Sir  Rowland  Hill,  and  his 
father,  Mr.  T.  Wright  Hill,  near  Birmingham, 
known  as  Hazelwood.  Writing  on  the  subject  of 
his  new  abode  Isaac  Pitman  observed  :  "  The 
situation  gives  one  of  the  finest  views  in  this 
beautiful  part  of  Somersetshire.  There  is  seen  at 
a  glance  a  large  portion  of  Bath,  built  on  the  side 
of  a  hill,  a  stretch  of  hilly  country  in  front,  with  a 
valley  in  the  centre,  and  the  river  Avon,  the 
Kennet  and  Avon  Canal,  and  the  Great  Western 
Railway,  running  up  another  valley  to  the  right, 
that  of  the  Avon.  The  city  portion,  when  lighted 
at  night,  has  the  effect  of  a  grand  illumination. 
The  name  '  Hazelwood  '  was  chosen  to  perpetuate 
the  memory  of  the  fact  that  the  profits  of  Phono- 
graphy furnished  the  means  of  building  it,  and 
that  Sir  Rowland  Hill's  '  Penny  Post '  made 
Phonography  popular.  ,  To  make  the  name  some- 
what appropriate,  a  row  of  hazel  trees  has  been 
planted  by  the  garden  wall  on  the  left  side  of  the 
house/ ' 


XIX 

MANY  SCHEMES  OF  SPELLING  REFORM  AND  "  THREE 

RULES'' — PUBLIC    APPEARANCES — ACTION     IN     THE 

HIGH   COURT — AMEN   CORNER 

1880-1886 

In  the  early  eighties  the  spelling  reformer  was 
very  much  abroad.  Nearly  every  reformer  who 
addressed  the  public  had  his  own  particular  scheme 
for  supplanting  the  existing  spelling,  and  was 
firmly  convinced  of  its  superiority  to  all  others. 
There  were  fifty  orthographic  schemes  under  the 
consideration  of  the  English  Spelling  Reform 
Association,  and  in  1880  Isaac  Pitman  published 
specimens  of  twenty-seven  of  these  which  he  was 
able  to  exhibit  with  his  available  type.  Nothing 
could  have  shown  more  clearly  that  while  the 
reformers  were  attacking  a  common  foe,  each  was 
armed  with  a  different  weapon.  This  idea  was 
cleverly  expressed  in  a  poetical  parody  (annotated) 
which  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention  at  this 
time,  and  was  read  with  amusement  by  all 
interested  in  Spelling  Reform.     It  ran  as  follows  : — 

GRAPHOPHONOMACHIA  : 

The  Battle  of  the  Signs  and  Sounds 

In  deep  recesses  of  a  sunless  vale 
Hides  a  huge  monster,  miscall'd  Orthograph, 
(But  Malefido  is  his  rightful  name) 
Horrid,  inform,  unsighted.    Many  a  peer, 

222 


GRAPHOPHONOMACHIA  223 

Who  sits,  where  Archibald  I  is  King,  supreme, 

At  that  round  table  nigh  the  Strand,  i'  th'  Court 

Where  all  his  Knights  assemble,  oft  has  urged 

Against  the  giant's  force  a  mad  career 

And  come  back  worsted  home.     For  mighty  spells, 

Coin'd  in  the  gloom  of  wizard  gramarye, 

Guard  the  abysmal  cavern  where  he  bides. 

Weapons  twiform'd,  and  things  that  change  their  shape, 

While  gazers  stand  aghast  with  wonderment, 

Are  hurl'd  against  the  rash  invading  foes, 

Who  seek  to  pierce  the  dark  Cimmerian  mist, 

Where  Malefido  hides  him  :    and  behind 

Briarean  Custom  stretches  polyp  arms 

To  hurl  the  enemy  back.     Yet  none  the  less 

The  crippled  monster  bleeds  at  many  a  wound. 

First  patriarchal  Isaac  2  smote  him  hard 

With  missiles  forged  in  shapes  unknown  to  men, 

Like  the  weird  talismans  in  Egypt  found, 

Graven  uncouth,  or  those  mysterious  signs 

On  Babel's  arrow-headed  cylinders. 

But  ere  brave  Isaac  pierced  the  giant's  cave 

To  thrust  him  to  the  heart,  a  digraph-shower 

As  thick  as  Vallombrosa's  autumn  leaves 

Hurl'd  him  back  breathless.     Then  his  puissant  peer, 

Strong  Alexander3  seized,  the  two-fork'd  forms, 

Gather'd  them,  shaped  them,  polish'd  them  anew, 

And  with  his  own  darts  smote  the  giant  down. 

Again  uprising,  Malefido  urged 

Myriads  of  Mutes  to  beat  the  invader  back 

With  soundless  death.     So  Alexander  fail'd. 

Next  a  Welsh  Knight 4  devised  a  magic  charm, 

To  lead  the  Mutes  by  many  a  devious  path, 


1  Archibald    H.    Sayce,    President    of    the    Spelling    Reform 
Association. 

2  Isaac  Pitman,  originator  of  the  Spelling  Reform. 

3  Alexander  J.  Ellis,  contriver  of  a  Glossic,  Digraph  system. 

4  E.  Jones,  advocate  of  the  use  of  e  as  modifier  to  indicate 
long  vowels. 


224  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

So  that  they  err'd  unwitting  how  they  went, 

And  smote  their  parent.     He  invoked  his  gods  : 

They  sent  him  aid  :   the  witch  Perplexity 

Assail'd  the  Welshman  in  the  rear  :   who  call'd 

His  countrymen  to  help  him.     One1  like-named, 

One  of  strange  weapons,  passing  small,  but  keen, 

That  drive  men  crazy  with  their  eerie  looks  : 

Along  with  him  a  little  sharp-tooth't  thing2 

That  skipt  now  here,  now  there  ;   but  always  bit, 

Whether  he  skipt  on  this  side  or  on  that ; 

So  these  two  plagued  the  monster,  robb'd  his  sleep, 

And  made  him  frenzied  with  incessant  pricks  : 

But  fail'd  i'  th'  main  achievement.     Next  came  one 

Of  honey'd  name,  3  with  quilted  doublet  arm'd, 

Who  had  good  aim,  but  weapons  all  too  weak. 

So  these  all  fail'd  :    they  did  their  best  devoir 

And  yet  they  fail'd.     But  last  came  one  transform' d 

With  spells  of  gramarye  like  the  monster's  own ; 

A  form  of  wonder  like  to  half  a  man, 4 

(But  none  could  tell  which  half),  now  head,  now  tail, 

Now  either-sided,  always  half  a  man, 

Dress'd  in  queer  armour  dotted  o'er  with  ohs  : 

He  waited  not  to  skirmish  at  the  mouth, 

But  rush'd  into  the  cave,  dived  in  the  mist, 

And  with  new  weird  enchantments  mazed  the  fiend. 

But  whether  he  will  in  the  quest  succeed, 

Or  whether  he  will  hobble  limping  home, 

None  knoweth  ;   but,  deep  hidden  in  the  mist, 


1  W.  R.  Evans,  deviser  of  tear-shaped  and  tadpole-shaped 
modifiers  for  the  same  purpose ;  Evan  and  John  are  etymologically 
identical. 

2  F.  G.  Flea,  or  Fleay,  proposer  of  a  partial  immediate  reform 
as  introductory  to  a  perfect  system. 

3  H.  Sweet,  author  of  a  scheme  which  requires  doubled  letters 
for  long  vowels. 

4  A.  J.  Ellis  in  a  new  character,  as  a  "  Dimidian  "  reformer. 
In  this  spelling  Rome  appears  as  "  Roam,"  but  the  Romans 
as  "  Rohmunz  "  ;  hence  the  allusion  to  "  ohs." 


AN   ANATHEMA  225 

Doubtless  he  fighteth  ;   and  a  crowd  of  men, 

Poets  and  scholars,  stand  a  little  off 

And  shout,  "  God  speed  him  !  "  but  they  give  small  help. 

Meanwhile  one  waiteth,  like  a  motley  fool, * 

And  gathers  the  spent  weapons  in  a  heap, 

And  sorts  them  wisely,  for  he  bides  his  time, 

Forging  proof  armour,  weaving  common  spells  ; 

Common,  yet  mighty  :   for  he  deems  the  knights, 

Each  one  too  trustful  to  his  own  device, 

Fail'd  therefore.     And  he  spies  the  monster's  ways, 

Watches  his  thrusts,  and  marks  his  change  of  shape, 

Biding  his  time.     Yet  he  perchance  may  fail, 

Though  he  has  waited  now  a  score  of  years, 

And  valour  loses  oft  where  patience  wins. 

Phreneticus. 

Most  of  the  newspapers  and  reviews  of  the  day 
gave  expression  at  this  time  to  opinions  on 
Spelling  Reform,  usually  of  a  hostile  character. 
The  Spectator  denounced  the  movement  in  vigorous 
fashion,  thus  :  "  We  look  upon  Mr.  Pitman,  of 
Bath,  and  his  adherents  as  guilty  of  as  flat 
burglary  as  ever  frightened  Dogberry.  Nothing 
has  ever  astonished  us  more  than  the  fact  that  the 
foremost  philologist  in  England,  Professor  Max- 
Muller,  should  find  it  in  his  heart  to  thrust  the 
aegis  of  his  great  name  and  authority  in  front  of 
this  forgetive  felony/ '  Isaac  Pitman  replied  to 
this  accusation  in  a  style  of  reformed  orthography 
he  had  now  introduced  under  the  title  of  the 
"  First  Stage  of  the  Spelling  Reform/*  which  did 


1  F.  G.  Fleay,  in  another  form,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  in  his  last 
avatar  before  his  final  interment  in  a  four-cross  road. 
15— (2284) 


226  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

not  involve  the  addition  of  new  types  to  the  exist- 
ing Romanic  alphabet,  but  could  be  used  by 
cutting  down  one  letter  (p)  to  form  a  character 
to  represent  the  vowel  sound  u.  His  rejoinder  to 
the  Spectator  was  as  follows  : — 

"  On  reading  this  akiuzashon  peepel  wil  be  led 
tu  inkweir  intu  the  natiur  ov  the  '  bprglari/  and 
the  *  feloni '  with  hwich  we  ar  charjd  ;  and  hwen 
they  feind  that  we  ar  simpli  supleiing  the  defish- 
ensiz  ov  our  alfabet,  and  '  puting  things  tu  reits  ' 
in  the  use  ov  leterz,  az  meni  ov  them  az  luv  truth 
and  utiliti  more  than  their  own  eaze,  wil  aid  us 
in  the  wprk." 

There  was  promulgated  about  this  time  in  the 
United  States  by  the  American  Spelling  Reform 
Association  and  the  American  Philological  Society 
a  set  of  "  Five  Rules  "  for  the  improvement  of 
English  spelling  without  the  addition  of  new  signs. 
These  rules  were  approved  and  adopted  in  several 
influential  quarters,  and  ran  as  follows  : — 

Rule  1. — Omit  a  from  the  digraph  ea  when  pronounced  as 
e  short,  as  in  hed,  helth,  etc. 

Rule  2. — Omit  silent  e  after  a  short  vowel,  as  in  hav,  giv, 
liv,  definit,  forbad,  etc. 

Rule  3. — Write  /  for  ph  in  such  words  as  alfabet,  fantom, 
camfor,  filosofi,  telegraf,  etc. 

Rule  4. — When  a  word  ends  with  a  double  letter,  omit  the 
last,  as  in  shal,  wil,  clif,  etc. 

Rule  5. — Change  ed  final  into  t  when  it  has  the  sound  of  t, 
as  in  lasht,  imprest,  fixt,  etc, 


THE   "FIVE   RULES  "  227 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  English  Spelling 
Reform  Association  dated  22nd  May,  1882,  Isaac 
Pitman  remarked  :  "  The  !  Five  Rules  '  of  our 
American  friends  do  not  give  a  satisfactory  style 
of  spelling  for  three  reasons.  1.  They  do  not 
affect  more  than  thirty-four  words  in  a  column  of 
The  Times  Parliamentary  debates,  or  one  word  in 
seventy.  2.  The  rule  to  omit  final  e  after  a  short 
vowel  cannot  be  applied  in  the  case  of  the  letter  o, 
as  in  love,  come  ;  for  the  omission  of  the  final  e 
would  turn  these  words  into  lov,  kom.  3.  The 
fourth  rule  is  too  general.  If  all,  fall,  lose  the 
second  I,  the  words  will  be  mispronounced  as  al 
(alley),  fal  (fallow),  and  so  with  eleven  words  of 
this  kind."  He  recommended  in  preference  a 
bolder  and  easier  style  of  spelling,  namely,  the  use 
of  the  old  alphabet  phonetically  as  far  as  it  can 
be  thus  applied,  and  explained  the  method  by 
which  he  considered  certain  consonants  and  u 
should  be  dealt  with. 

The  "  Five  Rules  "  in  the  hands  of  Isaac  Pitman 
were  experimented  with  and  revised  till  in  the 
end  a  set  of  directions  was  evolved  in  which  little 
or  no  resemblance  to  the  original  "  rules  "  could 
be  traced.  At  one  time  he  enlarged  these 
instructions  to  "  Six  Rules  "  and  later  on,  towards 
the  close  of  his  life,  he  reduced  them  to  "  Three 
Rules/'  as  under  : 

THE  THREE   RULES   OF  THE  SPELLING  REFORM 

Rule  1. — Reject  c,  q,  x  as  redundant;  use  the  other 
consonants  for  the   sounds  usually  associated  with  them  ; 


228  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

and  supply  the  deficiency  of  twelve  other  letters  by  these 
digraphs  : — 

ch,      'th,  th,  sh,    zh,      ng.  I    aa,     ai,    ee ;    au,   oa,   oo. 

cheap,       thin,   then,  vrish,   visiou,       sing.     |    palm,    pale,     peel;       pa\\,    po\e,    pool. 

Write  ay  for  the  second  vowel,  and  aw  for  the  fourth,  at  the 
end  of  a  word  ;   as  pay,  law. 

Rule  2. — A,  e,  o,  u,  ending  a  syllable  (except  at  the  end  of 
a  word;  as,  sofa),  represent  a  long  vowel ;  as  in  fa-vour,  fe-ver, 
ho-li,    tru-li. 

Rule  3. — A,  e,  i,  o,  u,  in  close  syllables  (and  a  at  the  end  of 
a  word),  represent  the  short  sounds  in  pat,  pet,  pit,  pot,  put. 
Use  u  for  u  when  it  is  pronounced  as  in  but. 

Write  the  Diphthongs  thus  :  ei,  by  ;  ou,  now ;  iu,  new 
(yu  initial)  ;  di,  Kaiser  ;   oi,  coy. 

Note. — In  the  First  Stage  concede  to  custom  /  instead  of 
ei  for  the  first  personal  pronoun  ;  n  for  ng  when  followed  by 
k  or  g,  as  bank  (bangk),  anger  (ang-ger)  ;  father,  piano-foarte, 
pianist  (for  faather,  piaano-forte,  piaanist).  When  the  letters 
of  a  digraph  represent  separate  values  insert  a  (*)  between  them 
as  short'hand  (not  shorthand),  being  (not  bying).  Proper 
names  and  their  adjectives,  addresses,  and  the  titles  of  books, 
should  not  be  altered  at  present. 

After  the  introduction  of  the  "  First  Stage," 
the  bulk  of  Isaac  Pitman's  Spelling  Reform 
publications  were  printed  in  this  style,  and  no 
longer  in  full  Phonotypy.  The  enlarged  alphabet, 
which  had  been  the  object  of  experiments  con- 
ducted at  vast  expense  for  forty  years,  and  in 
which  a  library  of  literature  had  been  printed, 
now  fell  almost  into  disuse,  in  favour  of  a  more 
practicable  scheme  of  reformed  spelling  through 


WILLIAM   E.   GLADSTONE  229 

the  medium  of  the  existing  Roman  alphabet.  In 
the  advocacy  of  this  method  of  spelling  Isaac 
Pitman  engaged  with  the  same  persistence  that 
he  had  before  shown  in  the  cause  of  reform  with 
an  enlarged  alphabet.  Phonotypy,  considering 
the  amount  of  attention  which  it  at  one  time 
received,  has  left  very  few  vestiges  of  its  existence 
in  English  literature  and  orthography.  An  inter- 
esting trace  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  great 
"  Oxford  English  Dictionary,"  which  Dr.  Murray 
began  to  issue  in  1884.  In  this  work  he  has 
adopted  in  the  representation  of  pronunciation  the 
phonotypes  J*  (sh),  3  (zh),  and  rj  (ng)  from  the 
phonotypy  of  Isaac  Pitman  and  Alexander  J. 
Ellis.  Of  the  labours  of  these  phoneticians  in 
several  directions  Dr.  Murray  had  spoken 
approvingly  in  his  Presidential  Address  to  the 
Philological  Society  in  1880,  but  he  then  expressed 
the  opinion  that  until  the  general  principles  of 
phonology  are  understood  by  men  of  education, 
no  complete  or  systematic  scheme  of  Spelling 
Reform  has  the  least  chance  of  being  adopted, 
though  he  wished  it  were  otherwise.  The  Spelling 
Reform  might  have  occupied  a  different  position 
to-day  could  it  have  secured  in  the  eighties  the 
active  support  of  William  Ewart  Gladstone. 
Unfortunately  this  was  not  possible.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  however,  sympathised  with  the  move- 
ment. In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Henry  Pitman  he 
wrote,  "  If  I  were  younger  and  had  some  things 
off  my  hands,  I  would  gladly  take  hold  of  this 


230  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

reform."  *  But  in  our  own  time  there  are  signs 
that  phonetic  science  is  becoming  more  generally 
cultivated  among  those  interested  in  education 
than  was  the  case  when  Dr.  Murray  spoke  over  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago.  Isaac  Pitman's  disin- 
terested efforts  to  introduce  a  better  alphabet  than 
the  present  have  not  therefore  been  wholly  futile  ; 
they  have,  at  any  rate,  prepared  the  way  for 
practical  improvements  in  English  spelling  in  the 
future. 

Several  addresses  were  delivered  at  this  time, 
which  were  reported  at  considerable  length  in  the 


1  The  following  letter  on  Spelling  Reform  was  addressed  by 
Mr.  Gladstone  to  Mr.  E.  Jones  fourteen  years  before  : — 

Hawarden  Castle,  Chester, 

21th  June,  1874. 

Sir, — There  is  much  that  might  be  done  with  advantage  in 
the  reform  of  spelling  as  to  the  English  language  ;  but  the 
main  thing  is,  that  whatever  may  be  proposed  should  be  pro- 
posed with  the  weight  of  great  authority  to  back  it.  The  best 
plan,  if  proposed  without  such  backing,  will  in  my  opinion  only 
tend  to  promote  confusion.  I  should  advise  those  who  are 
interested — and  very  justly  interested  in  this  question — to  busy 
themselves  not  so  much  with  considering  what  should  be  done 
as  with  considering  in  what  way  opinion  can  be  brought  to 
bear  on  the  matter,  and  some  organ  framed  to  inquire  what 
should  be  proposed.  It  is  not  in  my  power  to  offer  to  give  any 
time  under  present  circumstances  to  the  undertaking  which 
I  recommend,  and  in  which  I  should  gladly  have  found  myself 
able  to  join. 

I  remain,  your  very  faithful  servant, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

E.  Jones,  Esq. 


A   VISIT   TO   BRISTOL  231 

newspapers.  Isaac  Pitman  visited  Bristol  on  8th 
November,  1880,  and  addressed  a  large  gathering 
at  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  in  St. 
James's  Square,  on  "  Phonography  and  the  Spel- 
ling Reform."  Mr.  Mark  Whitwell,  Chairman  of 
the  School  Board,  a  member  of  the  City  Council, 
and  from  his  exertions  for  the  welfare  of  the  young 
known  as  "  The  Children's  Friend,"  presided. 
Mr.  Whitwell  was  an  old  phonographer.  He  had 
taken  up  another  system  in  1841,  but  abandoned 
it  for  Phonography  in  1843,  and  had  since  made 
much  use  of  the  art,  which  he  recommended  to 
all  young  men.  Mr.  Whitwell  had  not  long 
before  been  instrumental  in  introducing  Phono- 
graphy in  the  curriculum  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
Hospital  for  Boys,  a  famous  Bristol  educational 
foundation. 

The  appearance  in  The  Times  in  the  early  days 
of  1881  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  James  Griffin,  himself 
a  publisher,  complaining  of  the  high  price  (31s.  6d.) 
at  which  Lord  Beaconsfield's  new  novel  "  Endy- 
mion  "  was  published,  and  suggesting  that  it  could 
have  been  issued  at  the  popular  price  of  half-a- 
crown,  and  have  thus  secured  a  sale  of  half  a 
million,  elicited  the  following  observations  from 
Isaac  Pitman  :  "  The  principle  contended  for  by 
Mr.  Griffin  has  been  followed  in  the  phonographic 
and  phonotypic  publications  from  the  commence- 
ment, and  the  result  is  that  the  sale  of  the  short- 
hand books  in  England  is  above  100,000  a  year, 
that  the  price  is  sufficiently  remunerative  to  the 


232  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

author,  and  that  eight  hundredweight  of  phonetic- 
ally printed  books  in  shorthand  and  phonotypy 
are  sent  from  the  Phonetic  Institute  every  week 
in  the  year."  A  year  later  the  output  of  phono- 
graphic and  phonotypic  literature  had  risen  to 
half  a  ton  weekly.  In  1882  Isaac  Pitman  published 
an  adaptation  of  his  system  to  the  French 
language,  of  which  Mr.  Reed  was  the  author. 
The  Inventor  of  Phonography  visited  Rome  in 
1883,  and  while  there  gave  considerable  help  to 
Signor  Giuseppe  Francini  in  his  translation  and 
adaptation  of  the  Pit  manic  system  to  Italian. 

About  the  end  of  1881  a  new  association  was 
started  in  London  under  the  name  of  the  Shorthand 
Society,  for  the  study  and  discussion  of  the  art  of 
stenography  in  all  its  phases.  The  first  President, 
Mr.  Cornelius  Walford  (1827-1885),  by  profession 
an  actuary,  was  of  literary  and  antiquarian  tastes, 
the  author  of  "  A  Statistical  Review  of  the 
Literature  of  Shorthand/'  and  a  phonographer. 
The  Shorthand  Society  consisted  of  writers  of 
various  systems,  and  its  transactions  included 
many  valuable  papers,  which  were  published  for 
some  years  in  the  Phonetic  Journal.  Before  this 
Society  Isaac  Pitman  on  28th  June,  1884,  delivered 
an  address  on  "  The  Science  of  Shorthand."  The 
question  had,  he  said,  been  raised  whether  there 
was  a  science  of  shorthand,  and  this  query  he 
answered  with  an  emphatic  affirmative.  There 
were  truths,  laws,  and  facts  connected  with  short- 
hand, about  which  knowledge  could  be  gained. 


"SCIENCE   OF   SHORTHAND  "  233 

While  the  old  school  of  shorthand  dealt  with  the 
letters  of  the  known  alphabet,  the  new,  or  phonetic 
school,  was  concerned  in  the  sounds  of  speech  and 
the  signs  available  to  represent  them.  In  con- 
structing Phonography  Isaac  Pitman  introduced 
the  scientific  method  which  he  here  describes,  and 
as  we  have  seen,  founded  his  system  entirely  on  the 
science  of  phonetics.  Among  the  members  of  the 
Society  he  was  addressing  were  several  who  had 
invented  systems  of  shorthand,  and  outside  that 
body  there  were  other  contemporary  inventors. 
All  these  had  developed  their  methods  in  accord- 
ance with  their  individual  applications  of  the 
truths  of  phonetic  science.  They  thus  formed  a 
new  school  of  shorthand  inventors,  and,  though 
perhaps  they  did  not  acknowledge  it,  were  influ- 
enced by  the  success  with  which  Isaac  Pitman 
had  utilized  the  phonetic  principle.  In  this 
address  to  the  Shorthand  Society  he  showed  how 
greatly  the  success  of  Phonography  as  a  philo- 
sophical and  practical  system  of  writing  was  due  to 
his  use  of  three  simple  geometrical  signs — a  right 
line,  and  a  curve  bending  to  the  right  or  left — in 
the  construction  of  a  phonetic  shorthand  alphabet 
in  obedience  to  the  principle  of  writing  sounds  of 
a  like  nature  by  signs  of  a  like  nature.  The 
address  is  valuable  as  a  contribution  to  the  history 
of  Phonography,  because  it  demonstrates  that  in 
the  construction  of  the  system  its  inventor 
developed  this  scientific  principle  in  a  practical 
manner,  and  that  to  his  successful  effort  to  discover 


2M  SIR   ISAAC    PITMAN 

the  M  alphabet  of  nature,"  his  system  owes  its 
great  popularity.  For  some  years  Isaac  Pitman 
was  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Shorthand 
Society. 

There  were  several  International  Exhibitions 
held  at  South  Kensington  in  successive  years  at 
this  time  and  at  one  of  these,  the  International 
Health  Exhibition  of  1SS4,  there  was  an  Educa- 
tional Section  which  was  placed  in  the  Gallery 
of  the  .Albert  Hall.  Although  the  space  which 
was  allotted  was  inadequate  for  the  display 
he  desired  to  make,  Isaac  Pitman  exhibited  his 
principal  shorthand  works,  and  arranged  for  an 
attendant  and  a  supply  of  free  literature  on 
shorthand  and  spelling  reform.  The  display 
proved  of  considerable  interest  to  the  many 
thousands  who  visited  the  Exhibition,  and  there 
was  a  good  demand  for  literature.  Just  before 
the  Exhibition  closed,  Isaac  Pitman  received 
official  notification  that  his  Phonography  had 
received  the  only  award  made  for  shorthand.  The 
letter  of  the  Joint  Secretaries  was  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

"  We  are  instructed  to  inform  you  that  the  Jury 
Commission,  acting  on  the  reports  of  the  Inter- 
national Juries,  appointed  by  H.R.H.  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  have  awarded  you  a  Silver  Medal  in 
Class  48." 

For  the  third  time  in  his  life  Isaac  Pitman 
visited  Edinburgh,  where  he  delivered  an  address 
at  the  opening  of  the  twelfth  session  of  the  Scottish 


A   SCOTTISH   WELCOME  235 

Phonographic  Association  on  1st  October,  1884. 
He  had  first  visited  the  city  in  1841  when  his 
shorthand  method  was  in  its  infancy.  The  young 
inventor  was  then  unknown  to  fame,  and  his 
system  was  comparatively  untried.  But  very 
early  in  the  history  of  Phonography  Scotland  had 
become  convinced  of  the  value  of  the  art  and  of 
its  practical  utility,  and  as  a  result  it  had  been  for 
many  years  extensively  taught  and  practised  in 
the  North,  in  some  respects  perhaps  more  success- 
fully than  in  England,  and  the  Scottish  Phono- 
graphic Association,  established  in  1874,  had 
grown  to  a  large,  influential,  and  flourishing 
society  for  the  propagation  of  the  art.  From  this 
society  Isaac  Pitman  received  an  enthusiastic 
welcome,  the  place  of  meeting  was  thronged,  and 
great  numbers  were  unable  to  obtain  admission. 
The  Lord  Provost,  Sir  George  Harrison,  presided, 
and  was  influentially  supported.  His  Lordship 
was  much  impressed  by  the  enthusiasm  displayed. 
It  showed,  he  said,  that  Scotchmen  and  Scotch 
women  retained  the  love  of  knowledge  which  had 
characterized  them  for  centuries,  and  he  was 
gratified  to  find  them  taking  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  to  honour  Isaac  Pitman  for  what  he 
had  done  "  to  increase  the  sum  of  human 
knowledge/ ' 

The  contrast  between  his  first  and  his  third 
visit  to  Edinburgh  had  profoundly  impressed 
Isaac  Pitman.  When  he  visited  the  city  as  a 
young  man  forty-three  years  before,  and  "  the  first 


236  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

seeds  of  the  phonetic  reform  were  deposited,"  his 
publications  were  few  and  insignificant;  "Now," 
he  continued,  "  I  dispose  of  a  million  phonetic 
books  and  Phonetic  Journals  every  year,  and  about 
half  a  million  of  phonetic  tracts."  To  him  this 
was  a  source  of  "  devout  thankfulness  to  the 
Source  of  all  good."  "  It  is  hardly  necessary," 
he  went  on,  "  that  I  should  say  to  this  meeting  of 
phonographers  that  I  regard  the  phonetic  educa- 
tional movement  in  the  light  of  a  holy  crusade 
against  ignorance.  In  this  age  of  railways  and 
tramways,  and  exhibitions,  and  the  Suez  canal, 
and  the  Mersey  and  Severn  tunnels,  and  a  dozen 
more  good  things  projected,  it  cannot  be  that 
people  will  go  on  writing  with  the  stammering 
pen  of  longhand,  when  they  may  write  with  the 
fluent  phonographic  pen,  with  all  the  rapidity  of 
speech,  and  with  more  than  the  ease  of  speech." 
As  to  spelling  :  "  All  the  efforts  of  teachers  and 
committees  of  School  Boards  are  baffled  by  our 
barbarous  and  inconsistent  spelling,  which  '  no 
fellow  '  can  master,  except  some  of  the  teachers, 
and  some  writers  for  the  Press,  editors,  proof- 
readers, and  compositors.  Only  a  portion  of  the 
writers  for  the  Press  are  what  are  called  good 
spellers.  There  is  a  chorus  of  lamentation  from 
the  Inspectors  that  the  reading  taught  in  the 
Board  Schools  is  non-intelligent.  The  Inspectors 
say  that  the  children  read  in  a  senseless  manner. 
They  pronounce  the  words,  but  in  such  a  way  that 
a  listener  cannot  understand  what  is  read.     The 


COPYRIGHT  ACTION  237 

main  cause  of  this  is  that  they  have  been  taught 
to  read  and  spell  mechanically,  and  by  '  cram/ 
without  the  use  of  their  reasoning  powers.  The 
memory  alone  has  been  exercised,  and  not  the 
judgment/ '  In  replying  to  a  hearty  vote  of 
thanks  Isaac  Pitman  expressed  himself  amazed 
and  delighted  at  the  manner  in  which  Phono- 
graphy had  been  received  by  the  public  of 
Scotland.  Two  years  later,  in  1886,  an  exhibit 
of  Phonography  attracted  much  attention  at 
the  Edinburgh  International  Exhibition,  where 
it  was  awarded  the  highest  distinction — a  gold 
medal. 

A  short  time  after  his  visit  to  the  North,  Isaac 
Pitman  appeared  in  the  Queen's  Bench  Division 
of  the  High  Court  of  Justice  as  the  plaintiff  in 
"  Pitman  v.  Hine,"  an  action  for  the  alleged 
infringement  of  copyright  of  several  of  his  phono- 
graphic instruction  books.  The  action  was  tried 
before  Mr.  Justice  (afterwards  Lord  Justice) 
Mathew,  without  a  jury,  in  the  Court  of  Queen's 
Bench  (No.  9)  on  4th,  5th,  and  6th  November, 
1884.  The  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  were  Mr. 
Arthur  Charles,  Q.C.  (afterwards  Mr.  Justice 
Charles)  and  Mr.  Shortt  (instructed  by  Mr.  E.  B. 
Titley,  of  Bath),  and  the  defendant's  counsel  was 
Mr.  R.  T.  Wright.  The  hearing  of  witnesses 
occupied  two  days,  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
third  his  lordship  delivered  judgment.  Not  only 
was  the  case  for  the  plaintiff  presented  with  much 
ability — which  was  the  more  notable  fvQm  the 


238  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

fact  that  counsel  were  unacquainted  with  Phono- 
graphy, but  the  case  for  the  defendant  was 
conducted  with  marked  skill  throughout. 

The  principal  witness  was  the  plaintiff  in  the 
case,  and  his  appearance  in  the  witness-box  excited 
much  interest.  A  number  of  shorthand  writers 
who  had  used  the  Pitman  system  professionally 
for  years,  but  had  never  seen  its  inventor,  took 
the  opportunity  of  attending  the  Court,  while  a 
good  many  other  phonographers  who  were  inter- 
ested in  the  art  in  various  ways  followed  the 
proceedings  with  much  interest.  A  blackboard 
was  placed  in  position  between  the  witness-box 
and  the  Bench,  and  by  its  aid  the  Inventor  of 
Phonography  illustrated  his  evidence,  and  as 
his  work  was  followed  with  close  interest  by 
Bench,  Bar,  and  a  considerable  gathering  of 
practical  phonographers,  the  appearance  of  the 
Court  was  strongly  reminiscent  of  a  large  shorthand 
class.  The  point  which  it  was  sought  to  establish 
on  behalf  of  the  plaintiff  was  that  defendant's 
work,  entitled  "  Contracted  Outlines,"  had  rules 
which  were  identical  in  their  effect  with  those 
contained  in  the  books  of  which  the  plaintiff  was 
the  author.  Isaac  Pitman's  evidence  was  given 
with  great  clearness,  and  under  a  long  and  searching 
cross-examination  he  was  perfectly  calm  and 
collected,  emerging  from  the  ordeal  with  his  case 
strengthened  rather  than  otherwise.  Several 
expert  witnesses  had  been  retained  for  the  plaintiff, 
of  whom  three  were  called,  namely,  the  Hon.  Ion 


JUDGMENT   FOR   PLAINTIFF       239 

Keith-Falconer,  who  had  about  this  time  written 
the  article  on  "  Shorthand  "  for  the  Ninth  Edition 
of  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica/'  and  Mr.  Reed 
and  Mr.  Thomas  Hill,  both  well-known  as  pro- 
fessional shorthand  writers  in  the  High  Court  and 
elsewhere.  The  defendant  claimed  that  his  rules 
were  his  original  work,  that  they  taught  advanced 
and  new  principles,  and  were  not  copied  from  the 
books  of  the  plaintiff. 

In  the  course  of  a  lengthy  judgment  Mr/  Justice 
Mathew  decided  that  the  evidence  led  to  the 
"  irresistible  conclusion  that  the  defendant  had 
been  copying  the  plaintiff's  book ;  and  the  only 
reason  why  he  can  say  he  has  not  done  it  is  that 
he  has  illustrated  the  plaintiff's  system  by  different 
words  from  those  that  the  plaintiff  has  used." 

His  lordship  concluded  : — 

The  defendant  felt  his  way  very  carefully  in  commencing 
his  publication.  He  published  first  a  small  pamphlet,  which 
was  printed  [chromographed],  and  against  that  the  plaintiff 
protested,  but  he  thought  it  a  small  matter,  and  he  probably 
hesitated  (either  from  his  own  good  sense,  or  from  the  excellent 
advice  he  may  have  had)  about  commencing  a  Chancery  suit  in 
reference  to  that.  The  defendant,  emboldened  perhaps  by 
the  plaintiff's  neglect,  at  a  certain  interval  afterwards  printed 
[lithographed]  what  he  had  previously  put  forward  in  a 
different  form,  and  then  again  the  plaintiff  protested.  In 
the  year  1880,  when  this  publication  was  brought  to  his 
knowledge,  he  protested  against  it  and  pointed  out  once  more 
that  it  was  an  infringement  of  his  copyright,  but  he  took  no 
proceedings.  Again  the  defendant  made  a  further  experiment, 
that  expanded  work  No.  2,  and  the  work  the  subject  of  the 
present  proceedings.  He  expanded  the  "  Contracted  Out- 
lines "  from  600  to  1,000,  and  then  once  more  the  plaintiff 


240  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

protested.  He  did  allow  unquestionably  nearly  a  year  to 
go  by,  and  then,  when  the  defendant  had  sent  him  a  copy 
of  his  book  requesting  that  he  would  insert  an  advertisement 
of  it  in  the  Journal,  of  which  the  plaintiff  was  the  publisher, 
the  plaintiff  determined  to  bring  the  matter  to  an  end,  and 
a  correspondence  commenced,  which  certainly  in  the  first 
instance  exhibited  proper  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  defendant ; 
and  the  plaintiff  would  be  justified  in  expecting  from  that 
correspondence  that  the  matter  might  be  amicably  settled. 
The  correspondence  went  on  for  a  considerable  time,  until  it 
was  clear  that  the  defendant  would  not  admit  what  the 
plaintiff  considered  his  rights  in  the  matter,  and  then  these 
proceedings  were  commenced.  Now  it  certainly  throws  a 
flood  of  light  upon  the  plaintiff's  conduct  in  the  matter,  as 
we  have  been  informed,  in  the  course  of  the  proceedings,  that 
the  defendant  is  defending  this  action  in  forma  pauperis. 
It  is  perfectly  evident  that  a  plaintiff  would  hesitate  a  long 
time  before  he  would  attack  a  man  who  could  not  pay  damages. 
Subsequently  he  was  driven  to  take  the  course  he  has  taken. 
Now  it  is  said,  "  You  ought  to  give  the  plaintiff  damages  ; 
you  ought  not  to  give  him  an  injunction."  That  would  be 
denying  him  all  remedy,  for  the  defendant  is  a  man  who 
cannot  pay  damages.  What  is  proposed  is,  that  the  defendant 
should  be  suffered  to  go  on  to  publish  this  work,  which  I  hold 
to  be  an  infringement  of  the  plaintiff's  copyright,  the  plaintiff 
being  at  liberty  to  sue  him  from  time  to  time  for  damages, 
which  he  would  never  recover.  If  ever  there  was  a  case  in 
which  the  powers  of  the  Court  ought  to  be  exercised,  as  asked 
by  the  plaintiff,  it  seems  to  me  that  this  is  that  case.  I  there- 
fore grant  the  injunction  asked  for  by  the  plaintiff.  I  direct 
the  copies  of  his  book  now  in  the  defendant's  possession  either 
to  be  given  up  to  the  plaintiff,  or  such  an  arrangement  to  be 
come  to  between  the  parties  as  would  preclude  the  possibility 
of  the  work  being  further  published.  I  further  give  a  formal 
direction  that  the  plaintiff  shall  have  his  costs  at  any  time 
should  the  defendant  be  in  a  position  to  pay  him. 

Though  Isaac  Pitman's  name  was  so  well-known 
to  writers  of  his  system  of  shorthand  through  his 


LECTURE  AT  EXETER   HALL       241 

many  publications,  the  phonographers  of  London 
had  for  a  very  long  time  had  no  opportunity  of 
seeing  and  hearing  him  on  the  platform,  and  the 
announcement  that  he  would  lecture  at  Exeter 
Hall  on  the  3rd  October,  1885,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  on 
11  Shorthand,  with  a  Peep  at  the  Reading,  Writing, 
and  Spelling  Reform/ '  created  considerable  interest 
in  the  ranks  of  phonographers  in  the  Metropolis. 
Mr.  John  Bell  presided  over  the  gathering,  which 
was  held  in  the  Lower  Hall — the  same  place  in 
which  Isaac  Pitman  had  spoken  thirty-four  years 
before — and  when  the  veteran  Inventor  of  Phono- 
graphy appeared  on  the  platform  the  hall  was 
crowded  in  every  part,  and  large  numbers  were 
unable  to  obtain  admission.  "  Among  those 
assembled,0  we  are  told,  "  were  many  well-known 
in  the  shorthand  and  literary  circles  of  the 
Metropolis  ;  a  goodly  proportion  of  phonographers, 
a  slight  sprinkling  of  ladies,  whose  presence 
attested  to  the  growing  interest  taken  in  Phono- 
graphy by  the  fair  sex,  and  here  and  there  were 
seen  the  white  hairs  of  age.  The  rest  of  the 
audience  consisted  of  young  men  of  the  student 
class."  The  Christian  World  noted  that  the 
lecturer,  though  seventy-two  years  of  age,  was  hale 
and  hearty  in  appearance,  and  spoke  for  over  an 
hour  with  ease  and  vigour.  A  storm  of  applause 
greeted  him  on  rising. 

"  Not  quite  knowing,"   Mr.   Reed  says,   u  the 
kind  of  assembly  he  was  addressing — whether  it 

16— (2284) 


242  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

consisted  chiefly  of  phonographers  who  had  come 
out  of  curiosity  to  see  him,  or  of  the  outside  public 
who  desired  to  be  instructed — he  called  for  a  show 
of  hands  from  those  wrho  were  acquainted  with 
Phonography,  and  discovered,  perhaps  to  his 
surprise,  that  the  large  majority  of  his  hearers 
were  already  his  disciples.  This,  as  he  remarked, 
enabled  him  the  better  and  the  sooner  to  get  in 
touch  with  them,  and  rendered  needless  any  such 
minute  explanation  of  the  system  as  he  might 
otherwise  have  given.  He  rather  dwelt  on  the 
principles  underlying  the  construction  of  his 
alphabet ;  and  (the  traditions  of  Exeter  Hall 
notwithstanding)  he  could  not  refrain  from  throw- 
ing in  a  small  modicum  of  Swedenborgian  philo- 
sophy and  applying  it  to  his  subject.  The  mascu- 
line and  feminine  element,  said  by  the  Swedish 
seer  to  pervade  all  things  in  nature,  he  applied 
to  the  consonants  and  vowels  respectively  ;  and 
in  the  pairing  of  the  consonants  themselves,  as 
shown  in  the  arrangement  of  the  phonographic 
symbols,  he  found  another  illustration  of  the  same 
all-pervading  dualism.  The  '  reading  reform ' 
was  also  advocated  with  the  lecturer's  accustomed 
earnestness  and  energy  ;  and  some  striking  illus- 
trations were  given  of  the  inadequacy  of  the 
common  spelling  to  convey  the  sounds  of  the 
words  represented.,, 

A  considerable  impulse  was  given  to  the  forma- 
tion of  Shorthand  Writers'  Associations  through- 
out the  country  by  the  issue  in  1885  for  the  first 


ISAAC   PITMAN   &   SONS  243 

time  of  Shorthand  Speed  Certificates  from  the 
Phonetic  Institute.  These  testimonies  to  practical 
skill  were  issued  from  Bath  in  co-operation  with 
examining  committees  appointed  by  the  local 
associations,  and  the  granting  of  certificates 
had  a  most  beneficial  effect  on  the  promotion  of 
useful  efficiency  in  shorthand  writing  throughout 
the  country. 

Isaac  Pitman's  two  sons,  Mr.  Alfred  Pitman  and 
Mr.  Ernest  Pitman,  who  were  educated  at  Bath 
College,  had  for  some  time  assisted  their  father 
in  his  work  at  the  Phonetic  Institute.  In  his 
New  Year's  address  to  the  Phonetic  Society  in 
1886,  the  Inventor  of  Phonography  made  the  brief 
but  interesting  announcement  that  "  The  present 
occasion  seems  an  appropriate  one  for  informing 
phonographers  and  the  public  that  I  have  now 
associated  with  me  in  the  phonetic  business  my 
two  sons,  and  that  the  title  of  the  firm  will  in  future 
be  '  Isaac  Pitman  &  Sons.'  "  An  auspicious  event 
marked  the  opening  of  the  career  of  the  new  firm — 
Isaac  Pitman's  H  Phonographic  Teacher,"  the  most 
popular  shorthand  book  published  in  the  English 
language,  this  year  reached  its  First  Million. 

On  21st  November,  1886,  Mr.  Frederick  Pitman, 
the  youngest  brother  of  the  Inventor  of  Phono- 
graphy, and  his  London  publisher  at  No.  20  Pater- 
noster Row,  died  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-eight. 
His  services  to  the  winged  art  were  considerable, 
not  only  as  teacher  but  as  author  of  books  dealing 
with  the  practical  uses  of  shorthand,  and  as  editor 


244 


SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 


of  various  lithographed  phonographic  periodicals, 
which  for  many  years  enjoyed  a  wide  popularity. 
It  was  decided  that  the  firm  of  Isaac  Pitman  & 
Sons  should  for  the  future  have  their  own  London 
publishing  house,  and  the  end  of  the  year  saw  them 
in  occupation  of  their  present  premises,  No.  1 
Amen  Corner,  London,  E.C. 


XX 

THE  PHONOGRAPHIC  JUBILEE— THE  FIFTH  INSTITUTE 

1887-1889 

The  celebration  of  the  Jubilee  of  Phonography 
in  1887  was  one  of  the  most  important  events 
in  the  life  of  Isaac  Pitman,  and  in  the  history 
of  his  system  of  shorthand.  Its  unique  character 
attracted  great  attention,  not  only  in  this  country 
but  in  distant  parts  of  the  world.  No  other 
stenographic  author  in  our  own  or  any  other  land 
had  ever  before  been  the  central  figure  in  a  com- 
memoration of  this  description.  To  himself  per- 
sonally the  event  formed  the  introduction  to  a 
remarkable  series  of  honours,  while  the  impulse 
the  Jubilee  gave  to  the  teaching,  the  study,  and 
the  practice  of  Phonography,  as  well  as  to  its 
recognition  as  an  educational  subject,  was  not  only 
immediate  but  permanent  and  far  reaching.  It 
is  probable  that  until  the  Jubilee  Isaac  Pitman 
did  not  fully  realise  the  value  which  the  English- 
speaking  world  set  on  his  work  as  a  shorthand 
inventor.  For  years  past  his  chief  aim  in  life 
had  been  to  bring  about  Spelling  Reform,  and  his 
efforts  in  this  direction  would,  he  again  and  again 
urged,  be  helped  forward  by  teaching  Phonography 
— regarding  the  art  merely  as  a  means  to  a  greater 
end.  He  was  now  to  have  overwhelming  testi- 
mony that  the  art  was  valued  by  vast  numbers 

245 


246  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

of  people  not  interested  in  orthographic  reform, 
as  among  the  most  important  of  modern  time- 
saving  inventions  in  association  with  the  art  of 
writing. 

Very  early  in  the  preceding  year  the  attention 
of  phonographers  was  directed  to  the  advisability 
of  celebrating  the  Jubilee  of  Phonography.  After 
the  matter  had  been  discussed  in  phonographic 
circles,  it  was  brought  before  the  Council  of  the 
Shorthand  Society  by  Mr.  Reed,  on  the  3rd  March, 
1886,  when  the  following  resolution  was  passed  : 
"  That  this  Council  having  heard  from  Mr.  T.  A. 
Reed  a  statement  as  to  the  proposed  Jubilee  of 
Phonography,  in  1887,  and  a  public  recognition 
of  Mr.  Pitman's  labours,  desire  to  express  their 
entire  sympathy  with  the  object,  and  request 
Mr.  Reed  to  represent  them  on  any  committee 
that  may  be  formed  with  a  view  to  its  promotion." 
The  Shorthand  Society,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  a  body  containing  those  writing  various 
systems  of  shorthand,  and  one  of  its  most  dis- 
tinguished members,  John  Westby-Gibson,  LL.D., 
an  indefatigable  investigator  in  shorthand  history 
and  bibliography,  had  discovered  that  the  date 
of  the  Jubilee  practically  coincided  with  the 
three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  beginning 
of  modern  shorthand  in  England  by  Timothy 
Bright,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  He 
therefore  proposed  that  the  celebration  of  1887 
should  assume  a  double  character,  namely,  the 
Jubilee   of   Phonography   and   the   Tercentenary 


THE   PHONOGRAPHIC   JUBILEE      247 

of  Bright's  system.  The  proposal  met  with 
approval,  and  at  the  same  meeting  of  the  Council 
of  the  Shorthand  Society  at  which  the  above 
resolution  was  passed,  it  was  further  agreed  on 
the  proposition  of  Dr.  Westby-Gibson,  seconded 
by  Mr.  Reed,  "  That  it  is  desirable  that  advantage 
should  be  taken  of  the  Phonographic  Jubilee  of 
1887  to  hold  in  London  an  international  gathering 
of  shorthand  writers  of  all  systems,  in  celebration 
of  the  Tercentenary  of  the  origination  of  modern 
shorthand  by  Dr.  Timothy  Bright,  1587."  The 
actual  date  of  Bright's  first  published  book  was 
1588,  but  as  he  was  using  the  system  in  1586, 
the  celebration  was  made  to  fall  in  1887  in  order 
to  coincide  with  the  Phonographic  Jubilee.  These 
projects  were  brought  under  the  notice  of  Isaac 
Pitman  by  Mr.  Reed,  and  the  correspondence 
included  the  following  characteristic  letter  from 
the  Inventor  of  Phonography  : — 

14  Bath,  30  March,  86. 

"  Isaac  Pitman  to  Thomas  Allen  Reed. 

"  You  have  removed  the  only  objection  I  felt 
to  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  Jubilee  of 
Phonography,  and  its  advocacy  in  the  Phonetic 
Journal,  by  suggesting  that  whatever  sum  be 
raised  as  a  thank-offering  should  be  utilized  for 
the  extension  of  Phonography.  This  has  my 
hearty  approval. 

1  I  am  happy  to  say  I  need  no  addition  to  the 
income  I  derive  from  the  copyright  of  Phono- 
graphy.    But  I  think  a  better  appropriation  of 


248  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

the  funds  will  be  found  than  the  institution  of 
prizes  for  the  best  and  swiftest  writers.  This 
would  seem  to  involve  the  holding  of  the  champion- 
ship gold  medal  for  the  year.  Think  what  labour 
and  anxiety  would  attend  the  examination  of 
several  hundreds  or  thousands  of  specimens  of 
writing,  and  after  a  decision  had  been  come  to 
nobody  would  be  a  '  pin  '  the  better,  not  even  the 
winners. 

1 '  If  it  is  a  defect  in  my  mental  constitution  to 
be  without  '  emulation  '  [or  jealousy],  one  of  '  the 
works  of  the  flesh '  (Gal.  v.  20),  I  suppose  I  must 
bear  it  with  all  contentment,  but  I  confess  that  I 
never,  as  a  boy  or  a  man,  felt  a  wish  to  rival  or 
outstrip  another,  but  only  to  excel  my  former 
self. 

"  But  we  need  not  now  consider  this  part  of  the 
Jubilee.  I  shall  be  glad  to  assist  in  any  way  I 
can,  with  the  Journal  at  my  back.  Farewell." 

Soon  after  Isaac  Pitman  wrote  the  letter  quoted 
above,  public  announcement  was  made  of  the 
objects  of  the  proposed  celebration.  The  General 
Committee  which  had  undertaken  its  promotion 
included  many  personages  of  distinction,  as  well 
as  the  leading  representatives  of  the  stenographic 
profession  in  this  country,  on  the  Continent,  and 
in  America,  with  Mr.  Reed  as  Chairman  and 
Treasurer,  and  Dr.  Westby-Gibson  as  Hon. 
Secretary.  The  gathering  was  designated  "  The 
International  Shorthand  Congress,  London,  1887," 
and  it  was  the  first  of  this  series  of  meetings. 
There  were  two  sections  of  the  Congress  :     (1) 


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FACSIMILE    OF    SHORTHAND    LETTER    ON    THE    JUBILEE 
CELEBRATION    FROM    ISAAC    PITMAN    TO    MR.    REED 

{For  Key  see  page  247) 


DELICATE   NEGOTIATIONS  249 

The  Phonographic  Jubilee.  (2)  The  Tercenten- 
ary of  Modern  Shorthand,  in  the  shape  of  a  con- 
ference to  discuss  the  history  and  development 
of  shorthand ;  its  principles  and  modes  of  applica- 
tion ;  and  its  position,  interests,  and  prospects. 
It  became  apparent  at  an  early  date  that  there 
was  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion  as  to  the  respec- 
tive claims  of  the  two  branches  of  the  proposed 
Commemoration,  and  there  seemed  at  one  time 
a  probability  that  this  conflict  of  views  might 
result  in  a  split  among  the  supporters  of  the 
movement.  The  wise  tactfulness  of  Mr.  Reed, 
however,  happily  prevented  this,  and  a  method  of 
working  was  agreed  upon  which  gave  satisfaction 
to  all  parties,  and  resulted  in  the  entire  success  of 
the  Congress.  This  welcome  result  was  achieved 
by  the  appointment  of  two  executive  committees. 
One  of  these  was  the  Phonographic  Executive 
Committee,  with  Mr.  Reed  as  Chairman  ;  and  the 
other  was  the  Tercentenary  Executive  Committee, 
with  Mr.  W.  H.  Gurney-Salter  as  Chairman.  The 
first  of  these  committees  consisted,  with  one 
exception,  of  phonographers  only.  The  second 
was  presided  over  by  the  head  of  the  Gurney 
system,  and  consisted  of  well-known  writers  of 
various  methods  of  shorthand,  including  several 
phonographers.  To  the  last  named  committee 
was  entrusted  the  arrangements  connected  with 
that  portion  of  the  programme  which  dealt  with 
matters  of  general  interest  to  shorthand  writers 
of  all  systems,  and  to  a  great  extent  the  general 


250  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

arrangements.  A  satisfactory  agreement  was 
come  to  as  to  the  allocation  of  any  surplus  funds 
after  the  payment  of  expenses,  and  the  Jubilee 
Committee  decided  that  their  share  should  be 
devoted  to  some  method  of  perpetuating  Isaac 
Pitman's  name  and  services — his  wishes  to  be 
consulted  in  the  matter. 

The  Congress  was  held  in  the  Geological  Museum, 
Jermyn  Street,  London,  lent  for  the  purpose  by 
the  Lords  of  the  Council.  The  proceedings 
extended  from  Monday,  26th  September,  to 
Saturday,  1st  October.  Five  days  were  devoted 
to  various  functions  of  the  Congress  and  to 
the  discussion  of  subjects  of  general  interest 
to  all  shorthand  writers,  while  Wednesday, 
28th  September,  was  specially  set  apart  for  the 
phonographic  celebration. 

Great  distinction  was  given  to  the  opening  of 
the  Congress  by  the  inaugural  speech  delivered 
by  the  Earl  of  Rosebery,  K.G.,  who  had  accepted 
the  office  of  President.  His  Lordship  humor- 
ously observed  that  nobody  had  ever  suspected 
him  of  knowing  anything  about  shorthand.  He 
had  read  that  between  the  system  of  Willis  in 
1602,  and  Pitman  in  1837,  there  were  201  systems, 
while  since  that  date  there  had  been  281  more, 
and  he  felt  that  it  was  almost  a  relief  to  feel  that 
one  was  absolutely  ignorant  of  all  of  these  systems. 
In  the  course  of  an  interesting  comparison  be- 
tween the  reporting  at  the  commencement  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  in  the  nineteenth  century 


THE  "FATHER   OF   PHONOGRAPHY  "  251 

respectively,  he  showed  conclusively  that  it  was 
the  century  in  which  he  was  speaking  that  had 
witnessed  the  real  triumph  of  shorthand.  But 
apart  from  reporting,  he  held  shorthand  to  be  of 
immense  service  in  the  administration  of  the 
country.  "  I  believe/ '  he  said,  "  our  first  economy 
must  lie  in  the  direction  of  a  much  greater  employ- 
ment of  shorthand.0  Then  all  our  growing  lads 
must  understand  that  an  almost  indispensable 
condition  of  a  commercial  education  is  a  knowledge 
of  shorthand.  It  must  be  understood,  too,  that 
to  all  those  who  aspire  to  secretarial  and  clerical 
posts  a  knowledge  of  shorthand  is  at  least  equally 
indispensable,  and  that  "  in  the  days  when 
women  are  loudly  and  justly  calling  for  increased 
and  enlarged  employment,  shorthand  offers  them 
a  pursuit  which  they  are  eminently  qualified  to 
excel  in."  Without  doubt  this  practical  appre- 
ciation of  the  advantages  of  shorthand  greatly 
promoted  the  wider  use  of  the  art  which  has  come 
about  in  the  present  day. 

In  the  same  speech  the  Earl  of  Rosebery  made 
a  felicitous  reference  to  Isaac  Pitman  as  "  the 
venerated  father  of  one  system  of  shorthand/ ' 
and  this  suggested  the  slightly  altered  form  of 
!  Father  of  Phonography/'  which  his  admirers 
began  to  apply  to  Isaac  Pitman  soon  afterwards. 
Lord  Rosebery  was  so  much  interested  in  Isaac 
Pitman  that  he  received  him  at  the  Hotel  Metro- 
pole  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  to  him  personally 
his  appreciation  of  the  value  of  his  work,     In 


252  SIR  ISAAC   PITMAN 

the  course  of  their  conversation  Lord  Rosebery 
remarked  on  the  distinct  way  in  which  the  veteran 
shorthand  author  spoke,  observing  that  it  was 
in  pleasing  contrast  to  the  mumbling  utterances 
only  too  common.  "  I  have  frequently  to  com- 
plain/' Lord  Rosebery  said,  "  of  people  bringing 
out  their  words  in  such  a  slovenly  and  obscure 
manner,  or  so  rapidly,  that  it  is  quite  an  effort 
to  understand  what  they  say."  In  reply  Isaac 
Pitman  was  able  to  say  "  I  have,  from  my  youth 
up,  studied  to  speak  distinctly.,,  His  Lordship 
further  remarked  that  he  observed  that  his  visitor 
most  carefully  articulated  every  syllable  of  the 
words  he  uttered,  and  to  this  Isaac  Pitman 
replied,  !'  Yes,  my  lord,  that  is  the  result  of  my 
phonetic  system/ ' 

During  the  week  the  Congress  discussed  Parlia- 
mentary Reporting,  the  History  and  Literature 
of  Shorthand,  Legal  and  Official  Shorthand  Report- 
ing, Shorthand  in  Education,  and  the  Principles 
and  Structures  of  Systems.  The  proceedings 
were  reported  at  considerable  length  in  the  daily 
newspapers  from  The  Times  downwards,  and 
those  who  had  not  hitherto  paid  any  special  heed 
to  the  art  of  shorthand  and  the  work  of  reporting, 
were  led  in  many  instances  to  take  a  keen  practical 
interest  in  the  Pitmanic  system,  which  was  brought 
so  prominently  to  the  front  by  its  practitioners 
during  the  Congress.  A  valuable  feature  of  the 
Congress  was  an  international  exhibition  of  short- 
hand books  and  manuscripts,  held  at  St.  James's 


SHORTHAND   EXHIBITION  253 

Hall  Restaurant,  Piccadilly,  London,  W.,  which 
was  collected  and  arranged  on  behalf  of  the  Exhi- 
bition Committee  by  Messrs.  E.  Pocknell,  F.  H. 
Valpy,  and  H.  Richter.  No  such  collection  of 
books  representative  of  shorthand  literature  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  principal  Continental 
nations  had  ever  been  exhibited  before  or  since, 
and  the  Chronological  Collections  of  English 
systems  exhibited  the  progress  of  English  short- 
hand authorship  from  1588  to  the  year  of  the 
Congress.  From  his  library  at  the  Phonetic 
Institute,  Bath,  Isaac  Pitman  lent  a  large  number 
of  rare  works  of  early  shorthand  authors,  as  well 
as  many  extremely  interesting  exhibits  illustrative 
of  the  development  of  Phonography.  A  valuable 
catalogue  of  much  bibliographical  interest  was 
issued  by  the  Exhibition  Committee,  which 
included  an  account  of  the  British  Museum 
exhibition  held  at  this  time  in  the  King's  Library, 
contributed  by  Dr.   West  by-Gibson. 

The  phonographic  celebration  of  Wednesday, 
28th  September,  is  not  likely  to  be  forgotten  so 
long  as  any  interest  is  felt  in  Isaac  Pitman  and  his 
system  of  brief  writing.  The  central  figure  in  the 
day's  proceedings  contributed  two  papers  at 
different  times  in  the  day  and  delivered  a  speech 
in  the  evening,  all  three  utterances  being  charac- 
terized by  the  straightforward,  cheery  optimism, 
good  sense,  and  modesty  in  speaking  of  his  own 
achievements,  which  marked  Isaac  Pitman's 
public  utterances.     Dr.  J.  H.  Gladstone  presided 


254  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

at  the  morning  conference.  There  had  been  some 
current  misconceptions,  and  so  he  was  careful  to 
explain  that  they  were  not  celebrating  the  Jubilee 
of  shorthand  and  phonetic  writing,  but  "  the 
Jubilee  of  the  first  publication  by  Isaac  Pitman 
of  his  particular  system,  a  phonetic  system 
applied  to  shorthand,  which  he  termed  Phono- 
graphy/' He  "  devised  a  thorough  English  alpha- 
bet, capable  of  being  applied  to  all  the  sounds  of 
the  English  tongue,  and  in  that  way  was  able  to 
start  the  very  rational  and  simple  style  of  short- 
hand which  so  many  of  us  practise/'  Another 
advantage  which  had  not  been  insisted  upon  so 
much  was  "  that  the  alphabet  of  Isaac  Pitman 
affords  the  best  means  we  possess  of  writing  down 
the  pronunciation  of  any  new  word."  Dr.  Glad- 
stone spoke  from  experience ;  he  had  at  that  time 
used  Phonography  for  more  than  forty  years. 
Isaac  Pitman's  contribution  to  this  gathering 
was  a  paper  entitled  "  The  Spelling  Reform  and 
How  to  Get  It,"  which  elicited  a  brisk  discussion. 
At  the  afternoon  sitting  he  read  a  paper  entitled 
"  The  Genesis  of  Phonography,"  from  which  we 
have  quoted  somewhat  fully  in  a  preceding 
chapter  (page  36). 

Of  the  evening  gathering  in  the  Theatre,  which 
was  the  most  interesting  event  of  the  day,  Mr. 
Reed  (who  took  a  leading  part  in  it)  has  left  a 
pleasant  and  vivid  description,  which  is  substan- 
tially reproduced  here,  with  some  added  facts, 
and  with  an  additional  passage  from  Mr.  Reed's 


PRESENTATION   OF  BUST  255 

speech  of  especial  interest  as  exhibiting  the  very 
reasonable  view  he  took  of  Isaac  Pitman's  labours 
for  the  improvement  of  his  system.  "  The 
Theatre/'  Mr.  Reed  tells  us,  "  was  crowded  with 
phonographers  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  as 
well  as  the  writers  of  other  systems  at  home  and 
abroad,  who  desired  to  join  in  the  congratulations 
to  be  offered  to  the  venerable  guest  of  the  evening. 
It  had  every  appearance  of  a  pleasant  family 
gathering,  with  a  few  welcome  visitors  who  had 
dropped  in  to  offer  their  felicitations.  Isaac 
Pitman  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Pitman  and  his 
two  sons,  Alfred  and  Ernest,  his  brother  Henry, 
from  Manchester,  two  of  his  sisters,  Miss  Rose 
Pitman  and  Mrs.  Webster,  and  his  nephews, 
Harry,  Guilbert,  and  Clarence,  sons  of  Mr.  Joseph 
Pitman.  Dr.  J.  H.  Gladstone  was  among  the 
visitors  ;  and  Mr.  Brock,  the  sculptor,  was  present 
throughout  the  proceedings,  and  received  many 
a  compliment  on  the  successful  and  highly  satis- 
factory completion  of  his  marble  bust,  which  was 
on  the  platform  ready  for  the  process  of  unveiling.' ' 
Mr.  Reed  was  chosen  to  make  the  presentation, 
and  it  was  with  particular  satisfaction  that  he 
announced  that  many  persons  besides  phono- 
graphers, and  many  writers  of  other  systems,  had 
gladly  joined  in  the  effort  to  do  honour  to  the 
Inventor  of  Phonography.  Since  "  Stenographic 
Sound-Hand  "  was  produced,  the  Pitmanic  system 
had  become  familiar  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
writers.     "  Whatever  little  differences  of  opinion," 


256  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Mr.  Reed  went  on  to  observe,  "  may  have 
existed  among  phonographers  on  small  matters 
of  detail,  there  is  but  one  opinion  among  those 
who,  like  myself,  have  had  the  advantage  of  know- 
ing Isaac  Pitman  personally,  as  to  his  intense 
desire  to  leave  behind  him  the  very  best  steno- 
graphic instrument  that  his  wit  could  devise. 
I  have  known  him,  while  a  book  has  been  in  the 
process  of  printing,  cancel  the  printed  pages  at 
a  considerable  pecuniary  loss,  and  begin  afresh  in 
order  that  he  might  incorporate  in  the  work  some 
suggestion  that  he  had  received  for  its  improve- 
ment." After  this  illustration  of  Isaac  Pitman's 
painstaking  care  as  an  author — a  by  no  means 
infrequent  occurrence  at  the  Phonetic  Institute — 
Mr.  Reed  called  attention  to  his  services  to  the 
community,  and  concluded  thus  :  "I  have  now 
to  discharge  what  is  perhaps  the  pleasantest  duty 
that  has  ever  devolved  upon  me,  that  of  asking  you 
to  accept  for  your  family  from  the  phonographers 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  this  marble  bust.  It 
will  be  to  them  a  constant  reminder  of  the  regard 
and  affection  entertained  towards  you  by  those 
who  have  known  best  how  to  appreciate  your 
labours ;  and  it  will,  at  the  same  time,  be  an  ac- 
ceptable legacy  to  posterity.  Not  that  it  is  needed 
to  secure  you  a  place  in  the  recollection  of  your 
countrymen.  Your  work,  far  better  than  even 
Mr.  Brock's  faithful  chisel,  will  keep  alive  your 
memory  in  the  future  ;  but  all  the  more  will  those 
who  fill  our  places  in  the  coming  years  be  grateful 


ISAAC   PITMAN,    1887    (AGE   74) 
From  a  Marble  Bust  by   Thomas  Brock,    RA 


CONGRATULATORY  ADDRESSES    257 

to  us  for  having  preserved  to  them  the  lineaments 
of  a  man  to  whom  they  are  so  deeply  indebted 
for  the  services  he  has  rendered  and  the  example 
he  has  set." 

Amid  enthusiastic  applause  the  bust  was  then 
unveiled.  It  is  by  general  consent  admitted  to  be 
a  faithful  likeness  and  an  admirable  specimen  of 
Mr.  Brock's  art.  The  bust  was  exhibited  at  the 
Royal  Academy  in  1888. 

Addresses  were  then  presented  from  the 
phonographers  of  South  Australia,  of  New  South 
Wales,  and  of  Carlisle  ;  an  album  had  been  sent 
from  Italy,  and  it  was  announced  that  a  medal 
from  the  United  States  was  promised.  Personal 
congratulations  were  sent  from  the  stenographers 
of  Russia,  and  the  venerable  Dr.  Michaelis,  one 
of  the  official  shorthand  writers  in  the  Upper 
Chamber  of  Berlin,  telegraphed  his  congratulations. 

In  rising  to  respond,  Isaac  Pitman  was  greeted 
with  a  storm  of  cheers.  He  said  :  "  Mr.  Chair- 
man, and  my  dear  and  affectionate  friends  :  There 
is  a  passage  in  the  Divine  Word  that  has  rested 
upon  my  mind  for  a  month  or  two  as  one  that  I 
could  use  on  the  present  occasion.  It  is  a  Divine 
inquiry  submitted  to  us  to  institute  a  kind  of 
self-introspection  or  self-examination.  It  runs 
thus  :  '  Seekest  thou  great  things  for  thyself  ?  ' 
If  we  put  that  question  to  our  hearts,  I  think  there 
are  very  few  of  us  who  can  say  that  we  do  not. 
The  inquiry  is  followed  by  a  positive  command 

from  the  Maker  of  the  Universe,  '  Seek  them  not/ 
17— (2284) 


258  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

I  have  quoted  this  portion  of  the  Divine  Word 

for  the  purpose  of  saying  that,  consciously,  this 

passage  has  been  my  guide  from  my  youth  up. 

To-night  instead  of  feeling  that  I  am  a  kind  of 

Roman  citizen,  and  that  you  have  placed  a  civic 

crown  upon  my  brow,  I  rather  feel  in  the  condition 

of  a  criminal  arraigned  before  this  Court  on  the 

charge  of  having  sought  great  things  for  myself. 

I  fancy  to  myself  somehow  that  our  venerable 

chairman  (Mr.  Reed)  is  the  judge.    If  he  were  but 

bewigged,  which  would  well  become  him,  he  would 

be  an  admirable  judge — a  very  Portia.     And  my 

friends  upon  the  front  row  seem  to  me  to  be  the 

jury — the  grand  jury  ;   and  the  seats  behind  filled 

with  the  public,  are  the  audience  :    and  now  I 

stand  before  you  in  some  sense   as  a  criminal 

arraigned  before  the  world  for  having  sought  great 

things  for  myself ;  and  I  must  from  my  heart  declare 

myself  '  Not  guilty/     If  you,  in  your  clemency, 

come  to  the  same  conclusion,  I  shall  go  from  this 

meeting  a  happy  man.     And  then  to  turn  to  this 

bust,  a  doubt  is  suggested  to  my  mind  somehow, 

and  I  cannot  get  rid  of  it.     I  have  some  hesitation 

in  deciding  which  is  the  man  and  which  is  the 

image.     I  must  really  appeal  to  Mr.  Brock.     (Mr. 

Brock    answered    with    a    smile.)     I    think    this 

(pointing  to  the  bust)  must  be  the  man,  such  as 

he  ought  to  be  for  purity  and  beauty,  and  this 

(pointing    to    himself)    the    imperfect    image.     I 

only  wonder  how  my  friend  Mr.  Brock  could  have 

made  such  an  image  from  such  a  subject."     Then, 


PHONOGRAPHIC   FINALITY         259 

passing  from  himself  to  his  subject,  he  narrated, 
as  an  illustration  of  what  can  be  accomplished 
by  writing,  and  the  astonishment  it  creates  among 
those  unaccustomed  to  it,  the  familiar  story  of  the 
missionary  Williams  and  the  "  speaking  chip," 
which  did  excellent  service  as  an  introductory 
paragraph  in  the  addresses  of  the  young  phono- 
graphic lecturers  in  the  early  days  of  the  crusade. 
"  My  object  in  life,"  he  added,  "  has  been  to  make 
the  presentation  of  thought  as  simple  of  execution, 
and  as  visible  to  the  eye,  as  possible.  Fifty  years 
are  a  long  time  in  the  life  of  a  man,  and  I  have 
prosecuted  my  labours  for  that  length  of  time, 
and  though  I  cannot  say  that  we  have  got  in 
Phonography  the  best  shorthand  outline  for  every 
word,  I  do  maintain  that  we  are  not  very  far  from 
it.  I  think  that  the  only  thing  that  remains  to 
be  done  is,  to  select  any  words  that  are  not  facile 
and  beautiful  in  form,  easy  of  execution  by  the 
reporter's  hand,  consider  them,  and  put  them  in 
the  best  possible  form,  and  then  we  shall  have 
completed  our  work."  Having  alluded  to  the 
many  indications  of  the  daily  increase  in  the 
popularity  of  Phonography,  Mr.  Pitman  glanced 
at  the  question  of  the  Spelling  Reform,  and  then 
again  assumed  the  role  of  a  prisoner  arraigned  at 
the  bar  of  justice  and  awaiting  the  verdict.  Mr. 
Reed  thus  finding  himself  suddenly  invested  with 
judicial  functions,  submitted  the  case  to  the 
audience  as  the  only  jury  capable  of  deciding  it. 
A  hearty  burst  of  cheers  and  laughter  followed, 


260  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

which  the  Chairman  interpreted  to  mean  a  verdict 
of  "  Not  guilty/'  adding,  according  to  the  custom- 
ary formula,  that  the  self-arraigned  prisoner 
"  left  the  court  without  a  stain  upon  his  character." 
This  little  interlude  ended,  Mr.  Pitman  said : 
"  Well,  my  friends,  I  accept  these  beautiful  gifts, 
including  the  bust,  with  the  deepest  and  most 
affectionate  gratitude  of  which  my  nature  is 
capable.  They  shall  be  a  stimulus  to  me  to  work 
on  in  the  same  line,  but,  if  possible,  with  increased 
diligence  and  faithfulness/ '  Mr.  Ernest  Pitman 
also,  for  the  family,  returned  thanks  "  for  the 
cordial  way  in  which  phonographers  had  shown 
their  appreciation  of  his  father's  labours  in  the 
shorthand  world.' ' 

On  behalf  of  the  foreign  visitors,  Dr.  Dreinhofer 
moved  a  congratulatory  resolution,  which  was 
seconded  by  Dr.  Gladstone,  and  supported  by 
Mr.  Crump,  Q.C.  ;  Dr.  Gantter,  a  representative 
of  the  Gabelsberger  system,  in  Germany ;  Dr. 
Weber,  who  represented  the  French  stenographers  ; 
Mr.  W.  H.  Gurney-Salter ;  Mr.  J.  C.  Moor,  of 
Sunderland;  Mr.  J.  B.  Lawson,  of  Edinburgh; 
and  Professor  Bridge,  of  the  "  Chatauqua  Uni- 
versity," who  spoke  in  behalf  of  the  phonographers 
of  America. 

The  social  side  of  the  Congress  included  a  dinner 
held  on  Tuesday,  27th  September,  at  the  Holborn 
Restaurant,  over  which  Sir  Charles  Russell, 
Q.C,  M.P.  (afterwards  Lord  Chief  Justice  and 
Lord    Russell  of    Killowen),  presided  with  great 


"SHORTHAND   INVENTORS  "       261 

acceptability.  In  the  speeches  many  interesting 
observations  were  made  relative  to  Parliamentary 
and  legal  reporting.  The  toast  of  "  Success  to  the 
Shorthand  Congress/'  was  proposed  by  the  Chair- 
man in  most  felicitous  terms.  In  dealing  with 
the  objects  of  the  Congress,  he  indicated  that 
it  might  lead  "  to  the  establishment  of  something 
like  a  permanent  guild  of  shorthand  writers,  by 
which  they  may  create  for  themselves  a  local 
habitation  and  focus  point  and  centre.' '  The 
toast  was  acknowledged  by  Mr.  Reed.  The  toast 
of  "  The  Judicial  Bench  and  the  Legal  Profession  " 
was  responded  to  by  Mr.  F.  O.  Crump,  Q.C.,  who 
stated  that  he  had  learned  Pitman's  system  when 
a  college  student  for  taking  down  the  lectures, 
and  had  throughout  his  career  made  considerable 
use  of  it.  Mr.  Crump  made  many  interesting 
allusions  to  his  employment  of  shorthand  since 
he  had  been  at  the  Bar,  and  mentioned  that  in 
the  preparation  of  his  well-known  work  on  the 
Law  of  Marine  Insurance  he  had  been  able  to  use 
his  shorthand  ability  to  the  best  advantage. 
Mr.  Crump  was  an  old  friend  of  Mr.  Reed's,  and 
his  graceful  allusion  to  their  early  associations 
evoked  an  outburst  of  applause.  The  toast  of 
'Shorthand  Inventors"  was  proposed  by  Mr. 
Theodore  R.  Wright,  who  coupled  with  it  M  the 
name  of  the  gentleman  who  certainly  is  better 
known  throughout  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe 
than  any  other  shorthand  inventor,"  he  referred 
to  his  old  friend,  Isaac  Pitman. 


262  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

In  the  opening  words  of  his  reply  Isaac  Pitman 
made  some  remarks  which  were  not  altogether 
understood,  and  were,  as  will  be  shown,  elucidated 
by  himself  later  on.  "  As  a  personal  matter," 
he  said,  "  my  love  of  shorthand  is  entirely  with 
respect  to  its  uses  to  society  ;  and  I  may  honestly 
say,  not  in  pride  nor  in  depreciation  of  the  subject, 
that  I  have  not  an  atom  of  love  for  shorthand  as 
an  art  for  its  own  sake.  It  is  only  for  its  use." 
As  a  superior  medium  of  writing  to  the  ordinary 
longhand  he  advocated  its  introduction  as  part 
of  the  ordinary  curriculum  of  our  schools.  The 
two  points  in  the  construction  of  a  good  system 
of  shorthand  were,  in  his  opinion,  in  the  first  place 
a  simple  alphabet  scientifically  arranged,  and  in 
the  second  place  a  good  and  extensive  system  of 
abbreviations  to  adapt  it  to  the  requirements  of 
the  reporter.  In  the  generally  practised  system 
of  Phonography  he  ventured  to  think  they  had 
those  two  conditions.  "  I  hope,"  he  added, 
"  that  for  the  few  remaining  years  of  my  life 
I  shall  devote  myself  to  the  propagation  of 
that  system,  and  in  connection  with  it  to  the 
simplification  of  the  spelling  of  the  English 
language." 

At  a  subsequent  date,  in  his  own  Journal, 
Isaac  Pitman  explained  the  statement  in  his 
speech  which  had  caused  some  surprise,  that  he 
loved  shorthand  only  for  its  use.  His  meaning 
was  that  compared  with  the  study  of  the  spiritual 
affections  of  man  (as  revealed  through  Swedenborg) 


MANSION   HOUSE   LUNCHEON       263 

shorthand,  viewed  historically  or  practically, 
did  not  engage  his  affections.  "  Yet/'  he  said, 
M  I  spend  ten  hours  of  a  day  in  extending  the 
system  which  I  have  been  enabled  to  present  to 
the  world.  ...  I  have  done  this  from  a  deep 
conviction  of  the  utility  of  the  art  to  English- 
speaking  people,  that  is,  from  a  love  of  use.  This 
and  the  consequent  Spelling  Reform  is  my  life- 
work,  and  I  enjoy  it  intensely,  but  the  enjoyment 
arises  from  the  fulfilment  of  duty,  and  not  from 
considering  the  thousand  stenographic  and  ortho- 
graphic details  on  which  it  is  necessary  to  decide, 
nor  in  prosecuting  archaeological  studies  in 
the  ancient  systems  of  shorthand.  I  never 
felt  a  greater  relief  from  an  irksome  task  than 
when  I  had  finished  reading  and  reviewing  the 
systems  of  shorthand  published  previously  to 
Phonography  in  1845,  in  my  '  History  of 
Shorthand/  "* 

The  Shorthand  Congress  was  honoured  with  an 
invitation  to  lunch  with  the  Lord  Mayor  of 
London,  Sir  Reginald  Hanson,  at  the  Mansion 
House,  and  on  Friday,  30th  September,  a  company 
of   about   two   hundred  were   the   guests  of  his 


1  Isaac  Pitman  was  about  this  time  preparing  the  third 
edition  of  his  "  History  of  Shorthand,"  which  was  revised 
and  enlarged,  with  valuable  tables  of  alphabets  specially 
lithographed.  Notices  were  given  of  nearly  250  systems, 
and  in  the  preparation  of  this  edition  Isaac  Pitman  had  the 
valued  assistance  of  Mr.  Alexander  Paterson. 


264  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

Lordship  in  the  Egyptian  Hall.  The  cordial 
reception  accorded  to  the  members  of  the  Congress 
and  the  graceful  speech  of  the  Lord  Mayor  in 
proposing  the  toast  of  the  afternoon  delighted  all 
present.  His  Lordship  had  just  before  taken 
an  interest  in  the  shorthand  work  of  the  students 
of  the  City  of  London  School,  and  he  now  men- 
tioned that  the  name  of  Isaac  Pitman  was  the  first 
ever  heard  by  him  as  a  boy  in  connection  with 
the  art  of  shorthand.  Whatever  difference  of 
opinion  there  might  be  with  regard  to  the  various 
systems,  there  was,  the  Lord  Mayor  observed, 
no  difference  of  opinion  at  all  that  Isaac  Pitman 
was  the  most  eminent  living  English  inventor. 
"  It  is  a  pleasure  to  me  as  Lord  Mayor,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  to  welcome  him  here,  and  to  say  that 
to  him  and  to  those  who  are  representatives  of 
the  art  of  shorthand  we  owe  very  much  ;  and  we 
believe  that  in  times  to  come  we  shall  owe  them 
still  more,  not  merely  from  the  commercial  point 
of  view,  but  from  the  general  point  of  view  of 
the  increase  of  knowledge  throughout  the  civilized 
world."  These  encouraging  sentiments  were 
acknowledged  by  Isaac  Pitman  and  other  gentle- 
men who  had  taken  a  leading  part  in  the 
Tercentenary  proceedings. 

The  Congress  was  brought  to  a  successful 
conclusion  on  1st  October,  but  this  narrative  of 
Isaac  Pitman's  personal  association  with  it  would 
be  incomplete  without  a  reference  to  two  very 
important    works    which    his    firm    published   in 


MANCHESTER   CONFERENCE       265 

connection  with  it.  One  of  these  is  the  u  Transac- 
tions of  the  International  Shorthand  Congress, 
1887."  a  closely  printed  book  of  460  pages,  con- 
taining a  complete  record  of  the  speeches  delivered 
and  papers  read  at  the  Congress,  with  an  appendix 
of  48  pages  giving  a  catalogue  of  the  shorthand 
exhibition.  Another  work  of  permanent  value 
to  all  interested  in  the  history  of  shorthand  was 
"  The  Bibliography  of  Shorthand,"  by  John 
Westby-Gibson,  LL.D.,  issued  just  before  the 
Congress  opened.  On  the  invitation  of  Isaac 
Pitman,  Dr.  Westby-Gibson  visited  Bath,  and 
was  able  in  a  week's  research  in  the  library  at  the 
Phonetic  Institute  to  make  the  phonographic 
portion  of  his  work  much  more  complete  than  it 
otherwise  would  have  been. 

The  proceedings  in  London  did  not  represent 
by  any  means  the  only  commemoration  of  the 
Phonographic  Jubilee  and  the  Tercentenary. 
Manchester,  which  has  been  the  home  of  many 
distinguished  shorthand  authors  and  practitioners, 
and  is  associated  with  important  events  in  the 
history  and  development  of  Phonography,  had 
celebrations  worthy  of  itself  and  of  the  occasion. 
The  first  gathering,  a  public  conference  on  the 
present  position  of  Phonography,  was  held  in 
the  Mayor's  Parlour  at  the  Town  Hall,  on  29th 
August.  His  Worship  the  Mayor  (Alderman  J.J. 
Harwood)  who  occupied  the  chair,  gave  an 
address  on  the  association  of  Manchester  with 
the  art  of  shorthand,  and  mentioned  incidentally 


266  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

the  interesting  fact  that  he  was  acquainted  with 
the  first  edition  of  Phonography.  "  I  remember/' 
he  said,  "  making  very  good  use  of  the  book.,, 
On  the  following  evening,  the  30th  August,  a 
public  meeting  was  held,  presided  over  by  Sir 
Edward  W.  Wat  kin,  M.P.,  who  gave  a  practical 
account  of  his  pioneer  work  in  utilizing  the  art 
for  the  dictation  of  correspondence  in  the  offices 
of  the  railways  with  which  he  was  associated.  It 
was  their  custom,  he  remarked,  when  they  engaged 
a  young  man  as  clerk,  to  compel  him  to  learn 
shorthand,  and  Mr.  Henry  Pitman  had  been  their 
first  teacher.  "  I  am  bound  to  say,"  he  went  on, 
"  that  the  Pitman  system  of  shorthand  has  been 
to  those  by  whom  I  am  here,  and  have  been 
elsewhere  surrounded  an  unmixed  blessing/'  Sir 
Edward  was  thinking  of  many  connected  with 
railway  work  to  whom  phonographic  ability  had 
been  of  the  utmost  service.  Isaac  Pitman  gave 
a  comprehensive  address  on  Phonography  and  the 
Spelling  Reform.  A  number  of  able  speeches  by 
other  gentlemen  testified  to  the  interest  of  Man- 
chester in  these  subjects.  The  Committee,  with 
Mr.  W.  E.  A.  Axon  as  Chairman,  and  Mr.  A.  W. 
Croxton  as  Hon.  Secretary,  had  in  fact  arranged 
two  highly  successful  meetings.  Advantage  was 
taken  by  the  Executive  of  the  Vegetarian  Society 
of  Isaac  Pitman's  presence  in  Manchester  to 
entertain  him  at  a  banquet. 

The  national  commemoration  of  the  Jubilee  of 
Phonography    was    followed    by    celebrations   in 


NEW   CHURCH   PRESENTATION     267 

the  City  of  Bath.  The  first  of  these  took  place 
in  connection  with  the  New  Church  in  Henry 
Street,  and  was  held  very  appropriately  on  the 
15th  November,  1887,  the  anniversary  of  the  first 
publication  of  Phonography.  For  nearly  half-a- 
century  Isaac  Pitman  had  been  a  most  active 
member  of  the  Church,  and  he  was  at  this  time 
its  honoured  President.  That  his  own  people 
should  rejoice  with  him  and  congratulate  him 
on  this  auspicious  occasion  was  very  fitting. 
There  was,  the  minister  (the  Rev.  J.  Martin), 
observed,  an  irrepressible  desire  among  the  New 
Church  friends  to  express  their  "  wealth  of  affec- 
tion and  personal  regard  "  for  their  fellow  worker. 
An  address  by  Isaac  Pitman  on  the  origin  and 
progress  of  the  Writing  and  Spelling  Reform  was 
followed  by  a  congratulatory  resolution  proposed 
by  Mr.  William  Harbutt,  which  expressed  the 
hope  "  that  his  life  will  be  prolonged  to  see  the 
desire  of  his  heart  carried  out  to  a  far  greater 
extent."  A  presentation  was  then  made  of  a 
beautiful  miniature  portrait  of  Isaac  Pitman  on 
ivory,  by  Mrs.  Harbutt  (exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Academy  in  the  following  year).  Greatly  touched 
by  the  affection  which  the  gift  represented,  and 
the  regard  shown  for  him  by  those  to  whom  he 
was  best  known,  Isaac  Pitman  expressed  his 
gratitude  in  a  few  fervent  words  and  handed  the 
portrait  to  Mrs.  Pitman,  observing  that  whatever 
wisdom  he  had,  or  common  sense,  tact,  or  business 
capacity,  were  really  the  treasures  of  his  wife, 


268  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

and   that   beautiful   and   expressive   likeness   he 
presented  to  her. 

The  gold  medal  struck  in  America  to  com- 
memorate the  Jubilee  of  Phonography  reached 
Isaac  Pitman  in  February,  1888.  The  fund  to 
provide  it  had  been  raised  through  the  efforts  of 
Mr.  E.  N.  Miner,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the 
Phonographic  World,  New  York,  and  accompany- 
ing it  was  an  address  which  indicated  the  high 
value  set  on  Isaac  Pitman's  invention  in  the 
United  States,  as  follows  : — 

But  very  few  of  the  number  who,  in  America,  are  now 
practising  the  art  which  your  patient  study  of  the  principles 
that  should  govern  the  creation  of  written  language  enabled 
you  to  present  to  the  world,  know  the  early  history  of  your 
work.  Before  your  text-books  were  printed,  shorthand  writ- 
ing was  looked  upon  as  a  mystery,  and  the  man  who  could,  by 
its  use,  reproduce  the  utterances  of  a  speaker,  was  a  phenome- 
non of  dexterity,  and  was  regarded  as  little  less  than  a  nine 
days'  wonder.  And  there  was  reason  for  the  belief.  Those 
who  have  compared  the  lessened  lengths  of  forms  in  Phono- 
graphy with  the  cumbrous  outlines  of  the  systems  of  Gurney, 
Taylor,  Harding,  Byrom,  Gould,  and  others,  marvel  much 
that  with  them  the  requisite  skill  could  be  acquired  to  success- 
fully report  words  uttered  with  the  rapidity  of  colloquial 
speech.  "  Stenographic  Sound-Hand,"  as  given  by  you  to 
the  world  a  half  century  since,  was  the  prophecy  and  promise 
of  a  new  revelation  in  the  art  that  was  realised  in  1848.  For 
Phonography  was  a  system  of  shorthand  founded  on  scientific 
principles  and  unfolded  in  systematic  arrangement  and 
analogic  harmony.  It  was  the  first  in  which  the  simplest 
signs  were  employed  ;  the  first  in  which  cognate  sounds  were 
represented  by  cognate  signs  ;  the  first  in  which  those  elemen- 
tary sounds  admitting  of  classification  in  groups  were  repre- 
sented by  groups  of  analogous  symbols  ;    the  first  in  which 


[pvtmmm 


THE   AMERICAN    GOLD    MEDAL   TO   COMMEMORATE   THE    JUBILEE 
OF    PHONOGRAPHY,    PRESENTED    TO    ISAAC    PITMAN 


AMERICAN   ADDRESS  269 

the  attempt  was  made  to  give  circles,  hooks,  and  loops  distinct 
offices  for  efficient  service  in  the  stenographic  art.  By  it  the 
language  was  for  the  first  time  successfully  presented  in 
shorthand  on  a  phonetic  basis,  and  one  who  could  read  it  could 
hardly  fail  to  know  the  spoken  words. 

But  the  medal  which  you  now  have  is  not  a  tribute  to  your 
inventive  genius  alone.  The  evolution  of  a  new  idea  is  but 
half  the  work.  It  is  not  alone  the  inventor  who  accomplishes 
great  purposes.  As  much  credit  is  due  to  him  who  brings  the 
improvement  before  the  world  with  strength  of  purpose  to 
command  attention.  And  when  the  inventor  and  adapter 
combines  persistence  with  creative  talent  to  the  extent  that 
the  world  recognizes  the  truth  of  his  statements  and  acts  upon 
them,  then  more  than  double  credit  is  due.  In  America,  in 
nearly  every  commercial  house,  corporation,  and  public 
journal,  in  our  commercial  and  manufacturing  centres,  in  our 
Courts  of  law  and  equity,  and  in  deliberative  bodies  ;  indeed, 
in  every  place  where  much  writing  is  done,  the  stenographer 
is  a  needed  adjunct,  and  his  presence  was  made  possible  by 
your  work.  Phonography  came  to  us  unheralded  to  meet  a 
then  unvoiced  demand.  With  a  status  secured  it  created 
a  further  demand  for  its  application  in  spheres  of  usefulness 
for  which  scarce  any  had  thought  it  available. 

With  few  exceptions,  American  writers  who  have  presented 
the  system  have  frankly  acknowledged  their  indebtedness  to 
you  as  its  discoverer  and  inventor.  In  so  doing  they  have  but 
followed  the  lead  of  the  distinguished  pioneers,  Stephen  Pearl 
Andrews  and  Augustus  F.  Boyle,  who,  in  their  text-books 
published  forty  years  ago,  used  these  words  : 

"  A  system  of  writing,  to  be  perfect,  should  have  one  uniform 
method  of  representing  every  sound  of  the  voice  that  is  uttered 
in  speaking,  and  which  is  obviously  distinct.  In  the  next  place, 
it  is  desirable  for  practical  purposes  to  obtain  the  greatest 
possible  brevity,  and  therefore  the  characters  or  letters  by 
which  these  sounds  are  represented,  should  be  the  simplest 
in  their  form  that  can  be  found.  And  in  the  third  place,  in 
order  to  facilitate  the  learning  and  use  of  them,  they  ought  to 
be  selected  and  arranged  in  strict  correspondence  with  the 
nature  and  order  of  the  sounds  which  they  represent ;   thus, 


270  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

sounds  which  are  related  to  each  other  by  similitude  of  organic 
formation,  should  be  represented  by  signs  having  in  their 
forms  a  corresponding  resemblance  ;  in  other  words,  the  best 
system  of  writing  will  be  (1)  true ;  (2)  brief ;  and  (3)  analogical. 
These  properties  are  admirably  combined  in  the  system  of 
phonetic  shorthand — the  production  of  the  genius  and  labours 
of  Isaac  Pitman." 

It  only  remains  for  us  to  wish  you  health,  happiness,  and 
prosperity  during  the  remainder  of  your  career  on  earth,  and 
that  your  life  may  be  spared  as  long  as  existence  shall  be  a 
pleasure  to  yourself  and  add  to  the  happiness  of  others. 

We  are,  respectfully  yours, 

Edward  F.  Underhill,) 

Eliza  B.  Burnz,  L  Committee. 

James  E.  Munson,         ) 

There  was  a  celebration  of  the  Phonographic 
Jubilee  by  the  Canadian  Shorthand  Society  at 
Toronto  on  12th  August,  1889,  when  Mr.  Thomas 
McGillicuddy  delivered  a  eulogy  on  Isaac  Pitman 
and  unveiled  a  cast  of  the  Jubilee  bust. 

The  citizens  of  Bath  did  not  allow  this  interest- 
ing event  in  the  life  of  one  who  resided  in  their 
midst  to  pass  without  adding  their  congratulations, 
and  promoting  a  suitable  memorial  of  the  occasion. 
This  celebration  took  place  a  little  later  in  point  of 
time  than  those  already  recorded,  but  the  great 
National  Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria — the  influence 
of  which  was  felt  in  the  London  celebrations — had 
to  be  reckoned  with.  The  committee  which  pro- 
moted the  project  was  largely  representative  of 
the  Bath  Literary  and  Scientific  Institution,  with 
Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  Jerom)  Murch  as  Treasurer, 


BATH   PRESENTATION  271 

and  Messrs.  Frederick  Shum  and  William  Tyte 
as  Hon.  Secretaries.  On  22nd  February,  1889, 
a  large  company  of  friends  and  subscribers  met 
at  the  Bath  Guildhall,  under  the  presidency  of 
the  Mayor  (Dr.  H.  W.  Freeman),  to  present  Isaac 
Pitman  with  a  replica  of  the  bust  of  Mr.  Brock. 
His  Worship,  in  opening  the  proceedings,  observed 
that  by  his  invention  of  Phonography  Isaac  Pitman 
had  built  up  for  himself  a  unique  and  lasting 
monument.  He  had  travelled  in  America,  and 
the  fact  that  he  was  a  fellow-citizen  of  Isaac 
Pitman's  had  gained  him  admission  in  societies 
in  New  York,  and  other  cities,  to  which  he  would 
not  otherwise  have  been  admitted. 

Mr.  Murch,  a  master  of  graceful  oratory,  made 
the  presentation.  He  pointed  to  the  fact  that 
although  Isaac  Pitman's  career  among  them  had 
been  quiet  and  unobtrusive,  yet  it  had  really  been 
marked  by  extraordinary  and  even  world-wide 
usefulness.  In  every  part  of  the  world  where  the 
English  language  was  spoken  his  system  was  used, 
lessening  labour  and  quickening  intelligence.  In 
an  age  like  the  present,  when  success  is  valued 
far  too  much  as  bringing  the  means  of  luxury 
and  self-indulgence,  it  was  allowable  to  admire 
simplicity  of  life  and  perseverance  of  work.  It 
was  understood  that  Isaac  Pitman  would  hand 
the  bust  to  the  Royal  Literary  and  Scientific 
Institution,  and  alluding  to  this  Mr.  Murch  con- 
cluded his  speech  thus  :  "  We  are  glad  to  know 
that  it  will  find  a  congenial  home  within  those 


272  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

walls  where  we  have  so  often  met  you.  We  hope 
it  will  be  generally  thought  that  the  sculptor  has 
shown  his  accustomed  skill  and  increased  his 
well-known  reputation.  We  believe  that  to  your 
fellow-citizens,  to  the  young  especially,  it  will  be 
a  valuable  memorial  of  one  who,  through  a  long 
and  useful  life,  has  gained  their  sincere  respect, 
and  set  an  admirable  example  of  intelligent, 
benevolent  perseverance.  May  you  still  be  blessed 
with  health  and  strength  for  many  years  to  con- 
tinue that  example,  to  share  the  well-earned 
pleasures  of  old  age  with  those  who  are  near  and 
dear  to  you  — '  honour,  love,  obedience,  troops  of 
friends/  and  to  benefit  mankind  by  hastening  the 
time  when  knowledge  shall  cover  the  earth  as 
waters  cover  the  channels  of  the  deep." 

In  his  speech  in  response,  Isaac  Pitman  said  : 
"  If  I  were  a  Stoic,  a  neat  sentence  of  thanks 
might  suffice  for  acknowledging  this  beautiful 
gift.  But  I  am  not  a  Stoic.  I  am  indeed  deeply 
moved  by  the  kindness  of  the  friends  who  have 
subscribed  to  this  testimonial.  I  am  especially 
indebted  to  Mr.  Tyte,  who  originated  the  sub- 
scription, and  to  Mr.  Murch,  who  completed  it. 
Whatever  of  honour  there  may  be  in  this  presenta- 
tion, I  refer  it  not  to  myself,  but  render  it  to  the 
Lord,  to  whom  alone  all  honour  belongs.  The 
Literary  Institution  has  kindly  offered  to  accept 
the  bust,  and  to  place  it  in  the  Reading  Room, 
and  I  have  much  pleasure  in  asking  Mr.  Murch, 
as  the  representative  of  the  Institution,  to  accept 


"  LETTERS"   AND   "  NUMBERS  "     273 

it.  I  like  to  think  of  English  literature  under  the 
form  of  a  vast  temple,  with  a  portico  supported 
on  two  pillars,  on  one  of  which  is  inscribed  the 
single  word  '  Letters/  and  on  the  other  '  Numbers.' 
The  temple  is  adorned  with  the  statues  of  the  men, 
English  and  American,  who  have  made  the 
literature,  the  science,  and  the  art,  that  now 
illumine,  beautify,  and  bless  the  world.  No  one 
is  permitted  to  pass  the  portico  of  this  temple  who 
is  ignorant  of  letters  and  numbers,  and  their  com- 
binations. These  little  marks,  '  a,  b,  c/  and  '  1, 
2,  3/  that  seem  in  themselves  to  have  no  more 
meaning  than  the  marks  of  birds'  feet  in  the  snow, 
are  really  the  foundation  of  our  civilization. 
There  can  be  but  little  trade  and  commerce,  and 
no  literature,  without  these  seemingly  insignificant 
signs.  In  the  use  of  figures  we  are  consistent, 
but  in  the  use  of  letters  we  are  inconsistent. 
Figures  always  represent  certain  quantities  or 
numbers,  but  letters  are  used  arbitrarily  ;  and 
long  and  weary  is  the  task  to  find  out  what 
they  mean."  Some  observations  in  advocacy  of 
Spelling  Reform  closed  the  speech. 

All  things  have  an  end,  and  the  final  celebration 
of  the  Jubilee  of  Phonography  has  now  to  be 
recorded.  The  Jubilee  Committee,  after  three 
years  of  arduous  but  successful  work,  commemor- 
ated the  completion  of  their  labours  by  a  dinner 
held  at  the  Holborn  Restaurant  on  the  7th  March, 
1889,  when  Isaac  Pitman  was  presented  with  a 
gold    medal    struck    in    commemoration    of    the 

|8— (2384) 


274 


SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 


Jubilee.  The  gathering  was  presided  over  by 
one  who  described  himself  as  "  the  youngest 
recruit  in  the  phonographic  army,"  Viscount  Bury 
(afterwards    seventh    Earl    of    Albemarle).     His 


*       f 


u  FUN   IN    SCIENCE." 

This  was  the  title  which  Isaac  Pitman  gave  to  the  above 
humorous  drawing  by  Lord  Bury,  to  which  he  attached  a  descrip- 
tion containing  the  following  :  "  The  faces  of  the  above  happy 
pair  are  outlined  by  the  two  principal  classes  of  phonographic 
letters,  the  man's  face  by  the  surds  p,  t,  ch,  k,  and  the  breaths  /, 
th,  s,  sh,  which  are  male  sounds — mere  consonant  contacts, 
without  voice  or  affection  ;  and  the  woman's  face  being  formed 
by  the  affectionate  vocal  surds  and  continuants.  On  the  neck  of 
the  woman  lie  the  vocal  or  affectionate  nasals,  liquids,  and 
coalescents  ;  and  between  the  sturdy  male  and  the  smiling  female 
lies  the  aspirate  h,  waiting  for  the  first  of  the  six  vowels  beneath 
to  give  utterance  to  '  Ha  !   ha  !   ha  \  formed  for  each  other  !  '  " 


LORD   BURY'S  TESTIMONY         275 

lordship  had  been  abroad  in  South  America  at 
the  time  of  the  Jubilee,  but  reading  the  account 
of  the  proceedings,  in  The  Times  on  his  return 
to  England,  he  procured  the  necessary  phono- 
graphic books  and  began  their  mastery.  They 
introduced  him  to  a  study  which  he  characterized 
as  "  fascinating/'  and  in  eight  weeks  he  was 
writing  shorthand  with  considerable  facility.  His 
lordship  placed  himself  in  personal  communication 
with  the  Inventor  of  Phonography,  who  was,  of 
course,  rejoiced  to  render  him  assistance  in  the 
mastery  of  the  art.  Lord  Bury  had  some 
acquaintance  with  older  systems  of  shorthand, 
having  long  previously  had  a  knowledge  of  one 
of  these  imparted  to  him  by  Sir  John  Bo  wring  ; 
he  had  also  had  lessons  in  Lewis's  system.  "  Fifty 
years  ago,"  he  said,  "  Isaac  Pitman  found  short- 
hand in  a  very  chaotic  condition,  and  a  man  who, 
out  of  such  elements,  could  evolve  a  system  which 
was  brief,  rapid,  legible,  and  easily  acquired,  and 
which  had  so  quickly  taken  the  foremost  place 
among  shorthand  methods,  must  be  a  remarkable 
man.  But  he  has  done  more  than  that ;  for  by 
his  indomitable  energy  he  has  brought  his  system 
to  such  a  position  that  the  little  seedling  which 
he  sowed  fifty  years  ago  is  now  spreading  its 
branches  over  the  civilized  world." 

In  accepting  with  profound  gratitude  this  final 
mark  of  the  esteem  of  his  disciples,  Isaac  Pitman 
mentioned  incidentally  that  his  system  could  not 
have  achieved  the  success  it  had  done  had  he  not 


276  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

been  content  to  live  somewhat  the  life  of  a  recluse. 
Without  steady  work  at  his  desk  it  would  have 
been  impossible  for  him  to  have  evolved  the 
simple  yet  comprehensive  system  which  was  now 
making  the  compass  of  the  world.  He  mentioned 
with  gratification  the  recent  success  of  Phono- 
graphy in  a  far-off  land.  Mr.  A.  Tacchi,  the 
Private  Secretary  to  the  Queen  of  Madagascar, 
who  reported  the  speeches  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  that  country,  had  just  published  an 
adaptation  of  the  Pitmanic  system  to  the  Mala- 
gasy language.  He  also  noted  the  appearance  of  a 
Dutch  adaptation  of  Phonography,  by  F.  De  Haan, 
first  published  in  1887. 

Another  announcement  of  much  interest  was 
made  by  Isaac  Pitman  on  this  occasion,  namely, 
that  on  that  day,  he  and  his  sons,  with  their  staff, 
had  entered  on  the  occupation  of  a  new  Phonetic 
Institute.  The  premises  in  the  Abbey  Church- 
yard, which  had  been  occupied  for  fifteen  years, 
had  latterly  proved  inadequate  to  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  increasing  staff,  and  accordingly  a  new 
Institute — the  fifth — was  built  a  little  over  a 
mile  from  the  centre  of  Bath,  and  in  the  parish  of 
Twerton-on-Avon.  The  new  Institute  was  planned 
and  constructed  in  a  style  most  suitable  for  the 
complete  production  of  books  and  periodicals, 
and  the  architect  was  Mr.  W.  J.  Wilcox,  of  Bath. 
The  opening  was  celebrated  by  a  tea  and  enter- 
tainment to  the  staff  and  friends,  to  the  number 
of  two  hundred,  and  Isaac  Pitman,  who  presided, 


w 

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Pi 

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to 

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BRITISH   ASSOCIATION  ADDRESS    277 

in  his  address  to  his  employees  urged  them  to 
cultivate  a  taste  for  reading,  and  stated  that  in 
order  to  encourage  this  he  had  established  a  free 
lending  library  in  association  with  the  Institute. 

In  spite  of  the  many  demands  on  his  time  and 
attention  which  have  been  described  in  this 
chapter,  Isaac  Pitman  was  able  to  make  other 
public  appearances.  For  the  second  time  within 
his  experience  the  British  Association  visited  Bath 
in  the  year  1888,  and  on  this  occasion  a  paper  by 
himself  with  the  title  "  Economy  in  Education 
and  in  Writing/ '  was  accepted.  It  was  delivered 
in  Section  F  on  the  11th  September,  and  its  reader 
urged  with  unusual  freshness  and  force  the  saving 
of  time  in  teaching  to  read  which  would  follow 
from  the  adoption  of  phonetic  spelling,  and  the 
saving  of  time  in  writing  which  would  follow  from 
the  general  use  of  Phonography.  The  speeches 
were  almost  entirely  favourable  to  the  arguments 
which  had  been  placed  before  the  section  in  the 
paper. 

An  address  on  "  Literary  Reform,  and  Economy 
of  Time  in  Writing,' '  was  delivered  by  Isaac 
Pitman  on  16th  September,  1889,  in  the  Lecture 
Theatre  of  the  Midland  Institute  at  Birmingham. 
The  audience  numbered  considerably  over  one 
thousand,  and  many  were  unable  to  find  seats. 
"  There  is  something  peculiarly  fascinating/ ' 
wrote  the  Birmingham  Daily  Mail,  "  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  career  of  this  remarkable 
man.     It  is  a  life  that  gives  the  world  a  new  idea 


278  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

of  everlasting  energy.  Fifty-two  years  ago  Isaac 
Pitman  was  engaged  in  thinking  out  and  develop- 
ing the  system  of  shorthand  with  which  his  name 
will  ever  be  associated,  and  to-day  finds  him 
just  as  busily  occupied  with  a  much  more  daring 
project,  nothing  less  in  fact  than  a  sweeping 
revision  of  [the  orthography  of]  the  English 
language/ '  But  the  Mail  was  fain  to  admit 
that  to  a  very  large  extent  Isaac  Pitman  had 
argument  on  his  side. 

The  harmony  which  had  prevailed  among  the 
writers  of  various  systems  of  shorthand  during 
the  Tercentenary  proceedings  of  1887  was  rudely 
shattered  in  the  following  year.  Certain  pro- 
posals in  association  with  the  periodical  issued  by 
the  Shorthand  Society  led  to  some  altogether 
unfounded  allegations  being  made  against  Isaac 
Pitman  at  the  annual  meeting  of  that  body  on 
the  30th  June,  1888,  when  by  a  coup  d'etat  the 
control  of  the  Society  was  secured  by  certain 
anti-phonographers.  So  far  as  he  was  concerned, 
Isaac  Pitman  had  no  difficulty  in  demonstrating 
that  the  charges  levelled  against  him  were 
chimerical,  and  he  resigned  his  membership.  His 
example  was  at  once  followed  by  nearly  all  the 
phonographic  members  of  the  Society,  which 
some  years  afterwards  came  to  an  end. 


XXI 

A     NEW     EPOCH     IN      SHORTHAND     TEACHING — THE 
NATIONAL  PHONOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY — AN  EDITORIAL 

JUBILEE 

1890-1893 

One  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  Jubilee  of  Phono- 
graphy was  the  State  recognition  of  shorthand 
as  a  subject  of  instruction  in  schools  aided  by 
Government  grant.  "  In  educational  circles/' 
Isaac  Pitman  exclaimed,  ?  shorthand  is  now  the 
topic  of  the  day."  The  Technical  Instruction 
Act  of  1889  included  shorthand  among  a  number 
of  useful  subjects  for  evening  schools,  and  the 
Sheffield  Town  Council  was  the  first  municipal 
body  in  the  country  to  arrange  for  instruction  in 
Isaac  Pitman's  systepi  under  the  new  Act.  For 
some  time  previous  to  this  legislative  sanction, 
the  London  School  Board  had  taught  shorthand 
in  its  schools,  and  this  course  was  now  rendered 
possible  throughout  the  country  by  the  inclusion 
of  shorthand  in  the  Education  Code  of  1890, 
among  numerous  optional  "  specific "  subjects, 
and  for  the  next  eleven  years,  until  "  specifics  " 
were  abolished,  Phonography  was  extensively 
taught  in  elementary  day  schools.  Isaac  Pitman 
had,  therefore,  the  happiness  during  the  remaining 
years  of  his  life  of  seeing  his  ideal  with  regard  to 
the  mission  of  Phonography  completely  realized. 

279 


280  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

"  The  immediate  cause  of  the  extended  practice 
of  shorthand,"  he  had  written  years  before,  "  was 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  the  middle 
classes  of  society.  It  has  yet  to  be  extended  to 
the  lowest  classes,  and  this  will  be  the  mission  of 
Phonography  combined  with  Phonetic  Printing.' * 
Shorthand  instruction  was  now  made  part  of  the 
elementary  educational  system  of  the  country, 
but  its  importance  was  not  overlooked  by  the  high 
schools  of  the  land.  It  was  introduced  at  Rugby 
School,  its  value  being  appreciated  by  the  then 
Head  Master,  Dr.  Percival  (now  Bishop  of  Here- 
ford), and  in  many  other  schools  and  colleges 
throughout  the  country.  At  this  period,  indeed, 
Isaac  Pitman  was  able  to  announce  that  every 
year  one  hundred  thousand  persons  learned 
Phonography. 

The  considerable  extension  in  the  teaching  and 
practice  of  shorthand  at  this  time  had  impressed 
on  the  minds  of  many  leaders  in  the  phonographic 
world  the  necessity  of  an  organization  framed 
and  conducted  on  national  lines  for  the  cultiva- 
tion and  advancement  of  Phonography,  and  for 
the  regulation  of  the  teaching  of  the  art,  by  the 
examination  of  those  who  proposed  to  teach  and 
the  granting  of  a  teacher's  diploma,  which  would 
be  recognized  by  educational  authorities.  These 
objects  were  promoted  by  the  establishment  of 
a  body  conducted  on  national  lines,  entitled  the 
National  Phonographic  Society.  This  Society  was 
successfully  inaugurated  at  a  meeting  held  at  the 


NATIONAL  PHONOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY    281 

Memorial  Hall,  London,  on  31st  October,  1890, 
and  eight  years  later  it  became  the  Incorporated 
Phonographic  Society.  There  was  a  crowded 
gathering  of  phonographers  at  the  inaugural 
meeting,  and  for  an  hour  before  the  proceedings 
began  Isaac  Pitman  held  a  kind  of  informal  recep- 
tion in  the  Hall.  The  greatest  enthusiasm  and 
cordiality  prevailed,  and  it  is  recorded  of  him 
in  a  descriptive  account  of  the  proceedings 
that  "  white-haired,  active  as  a  stripling,  and 
almost  as  erect,  his  happy  face  beamed  with 
content  as  he  wheeled  about  from  one  knot  to 
another.'  ■ 

Lord  Bury  presided,  and  wished  the  new 
Society  God-speed.  He  represented,  he  said,  the 
outside  world,  which  looked  with  admiration  at 
the  perseverance  which  had  initiated  and  carried 
to  its  full  extent  the  great  art  of  stenography. 
"  We  have  here,"  his  lordship  went  on  to  observe, 
"  the  doyen,  the  head  and  front  of  the  phonographic 
world,  the  man  who  has  had  the  genius  to  succeed 
in  establishing  a  system  of  shorthand  invented 
by  himself,  not  upon  the  ruins  of  other  systems, 
but  alongside  them,  carrying  out  to  a  still  greater 
extent  the  benefits  which  they  before  him  con- 
ferred upon  mankind  ;  and  he  has  now  developed 
a  system  which  I  am  persuaded,  and  the  outside 
public  are  persuaded,  will  more  and  more  draw 
within  its  own  lines  the  stenographic  world.  It 
is  applicable  not  only  to  the  English  but  to  all 
other  languages/ '     Lord  Bury  expressed  his  entire 


282  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

approval  of  the  objects  of  the  Society  which  were 
thus  set  forth  : — 

(a)  The  discussion  of  (1)  all  questions  theoretical  and 

practical  connected  with  the  art  of  Phonography 
and  its  uses  ;  (2)  the  history  and  literature  of 
Shorthand  and  cognate  topics. 

(b)  Efforts   to   raise   the   status   and   remuneration   of 

phonographic  practitioners. 

(c)  The  institution  of  Examinations  of  Teachers  and 

others,  and  the  granting  of  Certificates  of 
Proficiency. 

(d)  The  promotion  of  mutual  intercourse  and  esprit  de 

corps  among  Phonographers. 

The  resolution  establishing  the  Society  was 
proposed  by  Mr.  Reed,  seconded  by  Mr.  E.  J. 
Nankivell,  supported  by  Dr.  (now  Sir  William) 
Gowers,  and  carried  by  acclamation.  A  speech 
from  Isaac  Pitman  followed,  in  which  he  con- 
gratulated the  phonographic  world  on  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Society,  and  expressed  his  gratitude 
to  the  officers  for  their  labour  in  framing  the 
constitution.  The  general  usefulness  of  shorthand 
would,  he  affirmed,  be  destroyed  by  the  practice 
of  many  systems,  but  the  formation  of  the  National 
Phonographic  Society  would  do  much  to  prevent 
such  an  undesirable  result.  He  became  the  first 
President  of  the  Society,  and  continued  to  hold 
office  until  1895. 

It  is  an  interesting  coincidence  that  the  Institute 
of  Journalists  was  incorporated  by  Royal  Charter 
in  the  year  which  witnessed  the  establishment 
of    the    National    Phonographic    Society.     Isaac 


F.   X.   GABELSBERGER  283 

Pitman  became,  and  remained  till  his  death,  a 
member  of  the  Institute.  In  the  summer  of  1890 
the  third  International  Shorthand  Congress  was 
held  at  Munich,  where  special  honours  were  paid 
to  the  memory  of  Franz  Xavier  Gabelsberger 
(1789-1849),  "  the  founder  of  modern  Teutonic 
shorthand/ '  and  a  statue  was  unveiled.  Isaac 
Pitman  attended,  and  paid  a  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  the  great  German  shorthand  author. 

One  of  the  incidental  effects  of  the  Jubilee  of 
Phonography  was  to  bring  about  more  cordial 
relations  between  its  Inventor  and  American 
practitioners  of  the  phonographic  art.  Isaac 
Pitman  at  this  time  established  a  closer  touch 
with  Transatlantic  phonographers  by  sending  his 
nephew,  Mr.  Clarence  Pitman,  to  New  York  in 
April,  1890,  where  he  has  since  had  charge  of 
the  interests  of  Phonography  in  the  Western 
Hemisphere. 

The  beginning  of  1891  witnessed  another  Jubilee, 
that  of  the  Phonetic  Journal,  which  this  year 
completed  its  fiftieth  volume.  During  that  long 
period,  with  only  a  brief  interregnum,  Isaac  Pitman 
had  been  its  editor.  He  had  moved  with  the  times, 
and  had  both  reduced  its  price  and  enlarged  its 
size.  The  Jubilee  year  was  marked  by  a  further 
extension  in  the  number  of  its  pages,  and  with 
an  increasing  circulation  its  usefulness  was  greatly 
extended.  During  this  year  the  promotion  of  the 
National  Phonographic  Society  occupied  a  good 
deal  of  attention,  and  in  pursuance  of  this  project 


284  SIR   ISAAC  PITMAN 

Isaac  Pitman  and  Mr.  Reed  addressed  a  crowded 
and  enthusiastic  gathering  at  the  Christian  Insti- 
tute, at  Glasgow,  on  23rd  September.  Isaac 
Pitman's  subject  was  "  Shorthand,"  and  he  made 
an  exalted  claim  for  the  art  :  "  Shorthand,"  he 
said,  "  develops  mind  ;  expresses,  amplifies,  and 
quickens  thought  ;  and  kindles  and  increases 
affection,  and  thus  promotes  the  best  interests 
of  mankind."  His  address  was  enthusiastically 
received,  and  at  its  conclusion  he  spoke  to  an 
overflow  meeting.  Mr.  Reed  followed  with  a 
persuasive  address,  in  which  he  commended  the 
new  Society  to  the  support  of  the  phonographers 
of  the  North.  A  few  days  later,  on  the  29th 
September,  Isaac  Pitman  addressed  another  large 
gathering  assembled  at  the  Y.M.C.A.  Hall  at 
Bristol.  The  second  inaugural  meeting  of  the 
National  Phonographic  Society  was  held  in  London 
on  the  21st  October,  when  the  first  shorthand 
teacher's  certificates,  awarded  after  examination 
by  the  Society's  Examining  Board,  were  presented 
by  the  Earl  of  Albemarle  to  exactly  one  hundred 
successful  candidates,  and  it  was  announced  that 
the  Society  had  received  an  addition  of  one 
thousand  members.  Isaac  Pitman  was  unable 
to  be  present  but  had  spoken  an  address  into 
the  phonograph,  in  which  he  congratulated  the 
Society  on  meeting  for  the  first  time  to  award 
teacher's  certificates  to  those  phonographers  who 
had  demonstrated  their  ability  by  passing  its 
examination. 


EIGHTIETH   BIRTHDAY  285 

On  the  4th  January,  1892,  Isaac  Pitman  cele- 
brated his  eightieth  birthday.  The  fact  that  he 
had  joined  the  ranks  of  the  octogenarians  was 
not  lost  sight  of  by  w  troops  of  friends  "  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  who  showered  upon  him 
innumerable  friendly  greetings,  for  which  he  made 
a  general  acknowledgment  in  grateful  terms. 
"  Their  good  wishes,"  he  said,  "  cheered  and 
encouraged  him,  and  he  hoped  to  repay  them  by 
not  lessening  the  number  of  his  days  on  earth 
through  overwork,  as  many  men  who  undertook 
important  missions  had  done."  In  his  early  life 
it  was  prophesied  that  his  too  assiduous  labour 
would  bring  him  to  an  early  grave,  but  this 
birthday  and  his  observations  on  it  recall  a  passage 
from  a  speech  he  had  delivered  at  Nottingham 
in  1849,  which  has  considerable  biographical 
interest.  '*  I  am  sometimes  told,"  he  then  said, 
"  that  I  shall  wear  myself  out  in  a  few  years,  but 
I  think  differently.  I  take  everything  very  calmly, 
and  have  acquired  the  habit  of  doing  my  work 
quickly,  in  shorthand  style.  I  have  adopted 
temperate  habits  of  life  and  early  hours  of  rising 
and  going  to  bed  ;  and  I  have  the  happiness  of 
being  descended  from  a  healthy  stock,  being  the 
third  child  of  a  family  of  eleven,  only  one  of  whom 
died  in  youth,  and  the  youngest  of  whom,  Frederick 
Pitman,  is  now  (1849)  on  the  verge  of  manhood. 
I  am  now  thirty-five  years  of  age.  My  father, 
an  eldest  son,  is  now  sixty-one,  and  has  scarcely 
passed  the  prime  of  life,  and  his  father,  who  is 


286  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

eighty-one,  gives  promise  of  a  few  more  years  in 
this  world.  And  I  may  add  that  when  I  was  a 
boy  I  attended  my  great  grandfather's  funeral. 
I  hope  then,  through  the  Divine  mercy,  I  may 
reach  the  age  of  eighty.' '  On  the  completion  of 
his  eightieth  year,  he  was  presented  with  a  hand- 
some illuminated  address  of  congratulation  and 
good  wishes  from  the  Scottish  Phonographic 
Association. 

A  new  phonographic  weekly  periodical  began 
its  career  in  1892  under  the  title  of  Pitman  s 
Shorthand  Weekly.  This  was  established  by 
his  sons,  but  Isaac  Pitman  took  a  keen  interest 
in  its  success,  and  wrote  the  transfer  of  the  litho- 
graphed shorthand  of  the  first  page  of  the  first 
number.  His  "  Greeting  "  was  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

"  Phonography  has  added  a  new  joy  to  life, 
and  given  a  new  wage-earning  employment  to  the 
nation.  Its  use  saves  time,  and  time  is  life  ;  it 
quickens  thought  and  its  expression,  and  thus 
cultivates  the  mind  ;  and  it  promotes  intercourse 
between  persons  living  at  a  distance  from  each 
other,  and  is  thus  l  knowledge  in  the  making.' 

"  Shorthand  was  first  printed  by  lithography 
in  the  Phonetic  Journal  for  1842.  During  the  last 
fifty  years,  at  a  moderate  computation,  a  hundred 
thousand  pages  of  lithographed  shorthand  have 
been  published,  which  have  been  read  by  perhaps 
a  million  persons.  During  the  first  sixteen  years 
of  the  Writing  and  Spelling  Reform,  from  1842 
to  1858,  I  wrote  the  transfers  of  several  shorthand 


; 

--  <  L  .V.  i  "I 


SPECIMEN  OF  PHONOGRAPHY   PRODUCED   BY  THE   TYPOGRAPHIC 

ETCHING    PROCESS 


( The  characters  are  etched  with  special  tools  on  the  wax  coating  of 

a    brass   plate,   from  which   electrotypes  are  taken.     Adopted    in 

''  Pitman's  Shorthand  Weekly  "  in  fune,  i8g2) 


Key. — Our  living  flocks  of  thoughts  need  no  longer  trudge  it  slowly  and  wearily  down 
the  pen  and  along  the  paper,  hindering  each  other  as  they  struggle  through  the  strait  gate 
of  the  old  handwriting.  Our  troops  of  feelings  need  no  more  crawl,  as  snails  crawl,  to  their 
station  on  the  page  :  regiment  after  regiment  may  now  trot  briskly  forward,  to  fill  paragraph 
after  paragraph  :  and  writing,  once  a  trouble,  is  now  at  breathing-ease.  Our  kind  and  loving 
thoughts,  warm  and  transparent,  liquid  as  melted  from  the  hot  heart,  shall  no  longer  grow 
opaque,  and  freeze  with  a  tedious  dribbling  from  the  pen  :  but  the  whole  soul  may  now 
pour  itself  forth  in  a  sweet  shower  of  words.  Phonotypy  and  Phonography  will  be  of  a  use 
in  the  world  not  dreamed  of,  but  by  a  few.  Aye,  and  shake  your  heads  as  ye  will,  they 
will  uproot  the  old  spelling  ;  they  will  yet  triumph  over  the  absurdities  of  the  dead  age. — 
Henry  Sutton's  "  Evangel  of  Love." 


"PITMAN'S   SHORTHAND   WEEKLY"     287 

periodicals,  sometimes  three,  in  different  styles, 
running  together  monthly.  Then  for  fourteen  years, 
to  1872,  a  lithographed  !  Supplement '  was  added 
to  the  Phonetic  Journal,  which  was  published  at 
3d.  In  1873  engraved  metal  shorthand  characters 
were  introduced,  the  price  of  the  Journal  was 
reduced  to  Id.,  and  its  circulation  rose  from  1,000 
to  the  present  24,000. 

"  These  recollections  visit  me  in  ushering  into 
the  phonographic  world  a  new  shorthand  periodical, 
and  in  writing  the  transfer  of  this  brief  address. 
For  half-a-century  it  has  been  to  me  a  labour  of 
love  to  edit  the  Phonetic  Journal,  and  a  source  of 
gratification  to  find  it  from  year  to  year  meeting 
with  ever  increasing  support.  Though  only  a  year 
has  passed  since  the  Journal  was  enlarged  from 
sixteen  pages  to  twenty-four  pages,  it  is  already 
found  inadequate  to  contain  the  increasing  variety 
of  important  matters  pertaining  to  the  study  of 
Phonography,  to  the  numerous  interests  of  those 
who  use  it  and  teach  it,  and  to  the  promotion  of 
the  Spelling  Reform — a  goal  in  the  distance  for 
which  we  strive. 

"  A  general  desire  has  been  expressed  for  the 
presentation  of  Phonography  in  a  recreative 
aspect.  The  adoption  of  Phonography  in  schools, 
mutual  improvement  societies,  etc.,  has  greatly 
increased  the  number  of  writers  of  the  system, 
and  there  is  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  demand 
for  entertaining  reading  matter.  The  Journal 
supplies  three  styles  of  shorthand,  as  lessons  and 
models  for  learners,  letter  writers,  and  reporters  ; 
and  the  present  publication,  it  is  hoped,  will  supply 
home  reading  adapted  to  amuse  and  instruct  the 
vast  number  who  every  year  become  students  and 
practitioners  of  phonetic  shorthand." 


288  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

In  this  year  (1892)  Isaac  Pitman  spent  his  sum- 
mer holiday  in  the  Channel  Islands,  to  which  he 
then  paid  his  first  visit.  His  system  had  gone 
before  him,  and  by  special  request  he  gave  a 
lecture  on  the  art  on  3rd  of  August  in  the 
Guille-AUes  Library  at  Guernsey. 

When  a  proposal  was  mooted  that  the  Phono- 
graphic Jubilee  of  Mr.  Reed  should  be  celebrated  in 
1892,  Isaac  Pitman  promoted  the  project  with  his 
whole  heart,  and  his  invitation  to  the  phonographic 
community  to  support  it  was,  without  doubt,  a 
considerable  factor  in  the  gratifying  success  of 
the  movement.  For  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
preceding  half-century  Mr.  Reed  had  been  in  the 
forefront  of  the  phonographic  world,  in  promoting 
the  extension  of  the  art  and  assisting  its  practi- 
tioners ;  he  had  consequently  hosts  of  friends  in 
every  rank  of  society,  while  his  writings  had  made 
him  almost  a  personal  friend  to  innumerable 
phonographers  who  had  never  seen  him.  Among 
the  speakers  at  the  presentation,  on  the  23rd 
November,  was  Dr.  Gray,  of  Oxford,  who  appro- 
priately observed  that  the  Reed  Jubilee  was  an 
event  in  the  history  of  Phonography  which  would 
always  stand  side  by  side  with  the  Jubilee  of  1887, 
and  such  indeed  it  was.  The  presentation,  which 
took  the  form  of  a  cheque,  was  made  by  Isaac 
Pitman,  and  the  value  of  the  token  of  esteem  from 
the  phonographic  community  was  evidently 
greatly  enhanced  in  Mr.  Reed's  estimation  by  the 
fact  that  he  received  it  at  the  hands  of  one  whose 


LAST  LECTURE  289 

words  of  encouragement  fifty  years  before  had 
determined  his  career  in  life. 

At  this  period  Isaac  Pitman  was  more  frequently 
on  the  platform  than  had  been  possible  with 
him  in  recent  years,  and  special  interest  attaches 
to  what  proved  to  be  his  last  lecture  on  Phono- 
graphy, because  it  was  given  at  his  birthplace, 
Trowbridge.  It  was  delivered  on  1st  December, 
1892,  at  the  Town  Hall.  The  Chairman  (Mr.  W. 
Walker)  made  graceful  allusion  to  the  fact  that  the 
lecturer  was  a  native  of  the  town.  Isaac  Pitman 
gave  the  audience  some  reminiscences  of  his  early 
days,  and  observed  that  when  he  looked  back  on 
his  past  career,  he  often  thought  of  the  words 
contained  in  the  verse  of  Scripture,  "  What  hath 
God  wrought !  "  Before  he  concluded  his  lecture 
on  Phonography  he  discovered  by  a  show  of  hands 
that  at  least  three-fourths  of  his  audience  were 
acquainted  with  his  system,  a  fact  which  afforded 
him  no  small  gratification.  The  second  portion 
of  his  lecture  was  devoted  to  the  advocacy  of 
Spelling  Reform.  About  this  time  Isaac  Pitman 
made  other  public  appearances.  The  season  was 
extremely  wet,  and  the  result  was  a  serious 
attack  of  congestion  of  the  lungs,  and  for  the  first 
time  for  a  long  period  the  venerable  Inventor  of 
Phonography  was  confined  to  his  bed.  He  was 
now  residing  at  the  Royal  Crescent,  Bath,  himself 
and  family  having  taken  up  their  residence  there 
at  the  time  the  new  Institute  was  opened.  On 
recovery,  he  removed  his  desk  from  the  Institute 

xg-(2284)) 


290  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

to  the  Royal  Crescent,  thus  avoiding  unnecessary 
exposure  to  the  weather. 

In  March,  1892,  the  Phonetic  Society  had  been 
established  for  fifty  years,  and  the  Jubilee  list  of 
members  was  the  largest  ever  issued,  containing 
5,098  names.  From  this  date  annual  lists  were 
discontinued,  and  with  Isaac  Pitman's  withdrawal 
from  the  Institute,  the  Society  ceased  to  exist. 
The  phonographic  functions  which  this  Society 
once  discharged  were  now  carried  out  in  a  different 
way  by  other  bodies,  while  its  work  as  a  promoter 
of  orthographic  reform  was  continued  by  the 
organization  of  a  Speling  Leeg,  founded  by  Isaac 
Pitman  on  the  4th  January,  1893,  with  Professor 
Max-Muller  as  President.  When  on  his  summer 
holiday  at  Southsea  in  this  year,  Isaac  Pitman 
gave  an  address  on  the  objects  of  the  Leeg  at  the 
Portsmouth  Town  Hall  to  a  number  of  teachers, 
and  a  resolution  of  approval  of  reformed  spelling 
was  passed. 

In  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the  City  Temple,  in  the 
presence  of  a  crowded  gathering,  Isaac  Pitman, 
on  27th  September,  1893,  distributed  the  prizes 
gained  by  the  students  of  the  Metropolitan  School 
of  Shorthand,  of  which  his  sons  had  a  short  time 
before  become  the  proprietors.  This  was  the  last 
occasion  on  which  he  spoke  in  public  on  Phono- 
graphy, and  in  the  course  olkhis  address  he  dwelt 
on  the  great  saving  of  time  which  its  use 'had 
effected  in  various  directions.  He  pointed  to  the 
dissemination  of  his  system  through  all  English 


IAST  PHONOGRAPHIC  ADDRESS    291 

speaking  countries.  "  In  every  part  of  the  world," 
he  remarked,  "  where  our  noble  tongue  is  spoken, 
phonetic  shorthand  is  written.  It  has  been  adapted 
to  the  writing  of  fourteen  foreign  languages, 
and  eleven  foreign  systems  have  been  published! 
They  are  French,  Flemish,  German,  Italian 
Spanish,  Dutch,  Welsh,  Chinese,  Japanese' 
Bengalee,  and  Malagasy.  The  Debates  in  the 
Japanese  Houses  of  Parliament  are  reported  in 
Phonography."  Later  in  the  same  year  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  fact  that  his  system  had  also 
been  adapted  and  published  in  Marathi ;  and 
shortly  before  his  speech  a  Tongan  adaptation 
had  appeared. 


XXII 

KNIGHTHOOD    CONFERRED    ON    THE     "  FATHER    OF 

PHONOGRAPHY. " — RETIREMENT   FROM   THE 

PHONETIC   INSTITUTE,   1894 

"  I  feel  a  lessening  of  the  joy  of  life  now  that  in 
my  old  age  I  can  no  longer  be  with  you  daily, 
aiding  in  your  labours  and  hearing  the  music  of 
the  machinery.' '  Thus  wrote  Isaac  Pitman  in 
response  to  an  address  of  congratulation  promoted 
by  the  staff  of  the  Phonetic  Institute  on  the  im- 
portant event  recorded  in  the  present  chapter. 
There  is  a  certain  pathos  in  the  spectacle  of  the 
valiant  champion  of  the  Reading  and  Writing 
Reform  having  to  retire  through  the  weight  of 
advancing  years  from  the  scene  of  his  life-long 
labours.  For  half-a-century  he  had  directed  the 
Reform  from  his  desk  at  the  Phonetic  Institute 
with  all  the  zeal  and  ability,  and  with  the  full 
extent  of  unwearied  industry  of  which  he  was 
capable.  His  inability  to  be  there  as  of  old  was 
deeply  felt,  but  without  a  trace  of  despondency 
or  the  iteration  of  unavailing  regrets.  At  his 
home  he  could  still  work  for  the  cause  to  which 
he  had  consecrated  his  life,  and  he  was  able  to 
drive  down  in  his  carriage  to  the  Institute,  in 
order  to  give  directions  in  matters  there  to  which 
he  still  paid  personal   attention.     At  this  time, 

292 


SIR   ISAAC  AT  HOME  293 

however,  the  bodily  ailment  which  was  eventually 
to  prove  fatal  had  manifested  itself,  in  the  shape 
of  disease  of  the  mitral  valve  of  the  heart.  But 
despite  this  there  was  the  same  buoyancy  of 
spirit  and  cheerful  demeanour  exhibited  during 
the  remaining  years,  and  almost  the  same  activity 
as  of  old  manifested  now  and  for  some  time  to 
come. 

The  interest  felt  in  the  career  of  the  veteran 
"  Father  of  Phonography  "  found  expression  at 
this  period  in  the  publication  of  various  interviews 
and  biographical  sketches  in  the  newspapers  and 
popular  periodicals  of  the  day.  A  clever  pen 
picture  of  the  Inventor  of  Phonography  in  his 
home  was  published  in  You  and  I  for  March,  1894, 
from  which  we  quote  some  passages  which  have 
a  biographical  interest  : — 

"  The  Royal  Crescent,  Bath,  overlooking,  from 
the  proud  eminence  on  which  it  stands,  the  pictur- 
esque grounds  of  the  Victoria  Park,  is  an  ideal 
place  of  residence  for  the  man  who,  in  the  closing 
years  of  a  busy  life,  seeks  not  rest,  but  continues 
his  work  in  the  privacy  of  his  own  sanctum. 

"  I  received  a  warm  welcome  at  No.  12,  the 
residence  of  Isaac  Pitman,  when  I  called  upon 
him  on  a  recent  bright  morning,  for  the  purpose 
of  hearing  from  his  own  lips  a  few  particulars  of 
his  long  and  eventful  career.  He  greeted  me 
with  charming  cordiality,  and  I  realized  at  once 
that  I  was  in  the  presence  of  a  man  who  would 
make  friends  and  inspire  confidence  wherever  he 
might  go. 


294  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 


<( 


Though  Isaac  Pitman  is  now  in  his  82nd  year, 
he  looks  at  least  ten  years  younger,  in  spite  of  his 
snow-white  hair  and  beard.  His  step  is  firm  and 
elastic,  his  voice  clear  as  a  bell,  and  his  spirits 
quick  and  merry.  His  fluency  of  speech  tells  of 
continual  activity  of  mind.  He  is  essentially  a 
business  man. 

"  The  room  in  which  we  sat  and  conversed  bears 
witness  to  this  fact.  The  walls  are  lined  with 
well-stocked  bookcases,  and  the  centre  of  the  floor 
is  occupied  with  two  writing-tables. 

"  '  These/  said  he,  pointing  to  the  volumes 
which  filled  the  shelves  on  one  side  of  the  apart- 
ment, '  are  books  chiefly  connected  with  shorthand 
and  spelling  reform.  Here/  indicating  another 
case,  c  is  general  literature,  and  in  the  cabinet 
over  the  fireplace  I  have  stacks  of  our  own  tracts, 
of  which  there  are  already  fifty-five  different  kinds, 
which  are  continually  being  added  to/ 

"  I  noticed  bound  volumes  of  the  Phonetic 
Journal,  which  has  reached  the  52nd  year  of 
its  existence,  in  one  bookcase  ;  and  in  another 
a  complete  set  of  the  Art  Journal  from  its 
commencement . 

"  At  Isaac  Pitman's  writing-table  we  sat 
together  and  talked  over  many  incidents  in  my 
venerable  friend's  career.  He  speaks  with  pardon- 
able pride  of  the  present  position  of  Phonography, 
and  the  extent  to  which  it  is  taught  and  practised 
throughout  the  country — I  might  almost  say, 
throughout  the  world. 

"  '  Shorthand  has  become  a  recognized  necessity 
amongst  the  acquirements  of  education/  he  said 
to  me ;  '  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  will  ulti- 
mately come  into  general  use  for  correspondence 


POSITION  OF  PHONOGRAPHY      295 

and  all  ordinary  matters  of  writing.  For  legal 
documents  it  will  never  supersede  longhand,  but 
there  is  no  other  clerical  work  for  which  it  is  not 
suited.  Printers  compose  from  shorthand  nowa- 
days, you  know.  Look  at  this  • '  he  handed  me 
a  neatly  written  manuscript  in  shorthand.  '  That 
article  was  set  up  at  our  office  from  that  very  copy. 
Corrections,  interlineations  and  all  are  in  short- 
hand, you  see.  Economy  in  labour ;  I  should  think 
so,  indeed.  Think  what  it  will  mean  to  reporters 
and  jaded  newspaper  men,  when  it  is  no  longer 
necessary  for  them  to  sit  up  all  night  to  transcribe 
the  notes  taken  during  a  hard  day  !  ' 

"  '  Phonography/  remarked  Isaac  Pitman,  '  has 
reached  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  may  now  be  left 
to  run  alone.  Phonotypy  has  still  the  height 
before  it,  and  requires  all  the  help,  all  the  pushing 
that  I  can  give  it  during  the  few  remaining  years 
of  my  life/ 

"  Although  too  much  absorbed  in  his  own 
particular  sphere  of  labour  to  take  any  prominent 
part  in  public  matters,  he  evinces  a  keen  interest 
in  all  movements  which  relate  to  educational 
and  social  advancement.  Thus  quietly  and  un- 
ostentatiously Isaac  Pitman  works  on, — not  for 
personal  aggrandisement,  not  fame,  but  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind  in  general,  and  particularly  of 
the  young  men  and  young  women,  to  whom,  when 
his  own  labour  is  done,  he  will  bequeath  the  cause 
to  which  he  has  given  his  thought — his  time — 
his  life." 

While  engaged  in  the  daily  occupation  the  You 
and  I  interviewer  has  so  well  described,  Isaac 
Pitman  was  the  recipient  of  a  letter  from  the  then 


296  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

Prime  Minister,  the  Earl  of  Rosebery,  which  ran 
as  follows  : — 

10  Downing  Street,  Whitehall, 

21st  May,  1894. 
My  dear  Mr.  Pitman, 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  make  the  intimation  to 
you  that  the  Queen  has  been  pleased  to  confer  on  you  the 
honour  of  Knighthood.  I  have  recommended  this  distinction 
on  the  ground  of  your  great  services  to  Stenography,  and  the 
immense  utility  of  that  art.  It  was  always  a  cherished  hope 
of  mine  to  obtain  a  recognition  of  these,  which  it  is  a  sensible 
satisfaction  to  have  realized. 

Yours  truly, 

Rosebery. 

To  this  communication  its  recipient  made  the 
following  reply,  writing  his  letter  in  longhand 
in  the  ordinary  spelling,  with  an  interlined 
shorthand  version  : — 

12  Royal  Crescent,  Bath. 

22nd  May,  1894. 
My  dear  Lord  Rosebery, 

I  am  very  grateful  to  your  lordship  for  the  honour  of 
knighthood  which  the  Queen  has  conferred  on  me  by  your 
lordship's  recommendation  for  my  services  to  the  English 
language  in  giving  it  the  briefest  possible  written  form. 
That  form  was  attained  by  classifying  the  sounds  of  speech 
scientifically,  and  then  arranging  the  shorthand  signs  in 
harmony  with  the  sounds.  Abbreviating  principles  were 
then  applied  to  the  letters.  The  result  is  seen  in  the 
interlineation  of  this  letter. 

Gratefully,  your  lordship's  most  obedient  servant, 

Isaac  Pitman. 


KNIGHTHOOD  297 

The  London  Gazette  of  25th  May,  1894,  announced 
that  Queen  Victoria  had  "  been  pleased  to  signify 
her  intention  of  conferring  the  honour  of  knight- 
hood upon  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman,  the  originator  of 
Pitman's  system  of  shorthand." 

The  honour  of  knighthood  for  services  in 
association  with  literature,  science,  art,  and  allied 
subjects,  had  hitherto  been  very  sparingly  be- 
stowed, and  with  certain  well-marked  limitations. 
Lord  Rosebery's  departure  in  the  case  of  Isaac 
Pitman  and  some  others  has  been  followed  by 
succeeding  Prime  Ministers,  and  has  resulted  in 
this  honourable  distinction  being  more  and  more 
employed  to  show  national  appreciation  of  worthy 
effort.  When  the  intention  to  confer  a  knight- 
hood on  Isaac  Pitman  became  known,  the  Press 
of  the  United  Kingdom  and  of  the  British  Empire 
beyond  the  seas  uttered  a  chorus  of  approval. 
The  Daily  News  very  fitly  expressed  the  general 
sentiment  in  the  remark  that  "  Another  of  the  new 
knights,  whose  title  will  be  welcome  to  the  whole 
public,  is  Isaac  Pitman,  the  founder  of  the  great 
system  of  shorthand  which  will  always  be  associated 
with  his  name.  The  knighthood  becomes  more 
and  more  an  order  of  merit  as  it  takes  account 
of  the  services  of  such  men." 

Admirers  and  relatives  in  far  distant  parts  of 
the  world  (among  whom  were  his  two  sons,  then 
on  a  tour  in  America)  as  well  as  friends  at  home, 
vied  with  each  other  in  sending  hearty  messages 
of     felicitation.      Addresses     of     congratulation 


298 


SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 


reached  him  from  Shorthand  Writers'  Associations 
in  all  parts  of  the  British  Empire.  By  a  happy 
coincidence  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Bath,  whose 
name  has  already  appeared  in  these  pages,  was 
knighted  at  the  same  time,  and  this  gentleman, 
Sir  Jerom  Murch,  was  presented  with  his  portrait 
on  23rd  May  at  the  Bath  Guildhall.  Isaac 
Pitman  was  present,  and  the  congratulations  of 
the  citizens  of  Bath  were  tendered  to  both. 

From  the  House  of  Commons  came  an  address 
written  in  Phonography  and  bearing  the  short- 
hand signatures  of  Members  of  Parliament 
acquainted  with  the  art,  all  (with  the  exception  of 
Sir  John  Leng's)  written  in  Pitmanic  Shorthand. 
,  This  ran  as  follows  : — 


To  Sir  Isaac  Pitman. 


House  of  Commons, 

2Btk  May,  1894. 


Dear  Sir,— rThe  undersigned  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  desire  to  offer  you  their  hearty  congratulations  on 
the  well-deserved  honour  you  have  received  at  the  hands  of 
the  Prime  Minister.     Wishing  you  long  life  and  prosperity, 


We  are,  yours  very  truly, 

E.  H.  Bayley 
x  Thos.  J.  Healy 
Jasper  Tully 
T.  H.  Healy 
Maurice  Healy 
Chas.  Diamond 


S.  D.  Waddy 
Archibald  Grove 
T.  P.  O'Connor 
M.  D.  Bodkin 
Wm.  O'Brien 
John  Leng 


The  accolade  of  knighthood  was  bestowed  by 
Queen  Victoria  at  Windsor  Castle  on  the  following 


RETIREMENT  299 

18th  July.  Isaac  Pitman  was  suffering  from 
lameness  at  the  time,  for  which  he  was  receiving 
medical  attention,  but  he  was  able  to  kneel  before 
the  Queen.  Her  Majesty  had  with  gracious 
consideration,  intimated  that  this  part  of  the 
ceremony  could  be  dispensed  with  in  his  case. 
Happily,  however,  he  could  fulfil  the  usual 
requirements  in  association  with  the  ceremony. 

Soon  after  the  bestowal  of  knighthood,  Sir  Isaac 
Pitman  retired  from  partnership  with  his  sons, 
Messrs.  Alfred  and  Ernest  Pitman,  and  transferred 
to  them  his  interests  in  the  works  of  which  he  was 
the  author.  The  transfer  had  been  commenced  in 
the  Spring,  but  it  was  delayed  by  various  causes, 
and  it  was  not  finally  completed  till  10th  August, 
1894.  At  the  time  of  his  retirement,  Sir  Isaac 
had  been  uninterruptedly  engaged  in  the  work 
connected  with  his  invention  of  Phonography  for 
fifty-seven  years,  and  had  edited  the  Phonetic 
Journal  for  fifty-two  years,  a  ^  record  in  both 
respects  quite  unique  in  our  national  history.  In 
this  year  (1894)  the  sale  of  the  "  Phonographic 
Teacher  "  attained  to  a  total  of  two  million  copies. 
It  was  in  this  year  also  that  the  National  Society 
of  Shorthand  Teachers,  (afterwards  the  Incorpor- 
ated Society  of  Shorthand  Teachers),  was  founded, 
and  Isaac  Pitman  accepted  a  cordial  invitation  to 
become  the  Patron  of  the  society. 


XXIII 

INTERESTS,   ACCOMPLISHMENTS,   AND   FADS. — 
SOME   PERSONAL   DATA 

A  career  of  incessant  occupation  in  the  pro- 
motion of  his  mission  in  life  left  Isaac  Pitman 
comparatively  little  time  or  opportunity  for  active 
participation  in  public  work  of  the  ordinary  kind, 
or  for  the  cultivation  of  his  individual  tastes. 
But  there  were  matters  outside  his  special  concern 
to  which  he  was  particularly  attracted,  and 
attention  may  be  fitly  directed  to  these  now  that 
the  story  of  his  efforts  as  a  Shorthand  Inventor  and 
Spelling  Reformer  is  all  but  completed.  Through- 
out his  life  the  movements  of  the  time  greatly 
interested  him,  especially  those  which  related  to 
religion,  politics,  hygiene,  and  social  life ;  he 
cultivated  at  least  one  accomplishment,  that  of 
music ;  and  he  had  a  good  many  fads,  frankly 
owned  as  such,  and  from  the  promotion  and 
advocacy  of  which  he  derived  no  small  enjoyment. 
Deeply  interested  in  theological  studies,  Isaac 
Pitman  followed,  with  close  attention,  the  move- 
ment that  extended  over  a  considerable  portion 
of  his  active  life  and  resulted  in  the  production  of 
the  Revised  Version  of  the  Bible.  As  we  have 
seen,  he  made  in  early  life  a  very  close  study  of 
the  text  of  the  Authorised  Version.  When  the 
work  of  the  revisers  was  submitted  to  the  public, 
he  examined  it  with  great  interest,  and  expressed 
a  preference  for  the  revisions  of  the  American 

300 


SWEDENBORG  301 

Committee  to  those  which  were  sanctioned  by  the 
scholars  who  assembled  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber. 
Since  his  acceptance  of  the  doctrines  of  Emanuel 
Swedenborg,  he  was  an  assiduous  student  of 
the  voluminous  religious  writings  of  the  Swedish 
philosopher,  and  it  was  his  custom  to  read  a  portion 
of  them  for  half-an-hour  early  in  the  morning, 
before  going  to  his  desk  at  the  Phonetic  Institute 
to  begin  the  duties  of  the  day.  To  many  enter- 
prises of  the  New  Church  body  he  gave  substantial 
monetary  support  down  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
If  his  zeal  for  the  promotion  of  the  doctrines  of 
Swedenborg  was  at  times  a  little  inopportune, 
he  had  at  any  rate  a  profound  respect  for  the 
religious  convictions  of  others,  and  his  relations 
with  the  clergy  of  all  denominations,  and  with 
members  of  various  religious  communions  were  of 
the  most  cordial  character.  He  took  consider- 
able interest  in  hymnology,  but  the  popular  com- 
positions of  modern  authors  did  not  arouse  in  him 
anything  like  the  admiration  he  felt  for  the  hymns 
of  older  writers. 

In  politics  Isaac  Pitman  was  a  lifelong  supporter 
and  advocate  of  Liberal  principles.  His  interest 
in  political  questions  was  early  aroused  by  the 
popular  demand  for  the  franchise,  which  resulted 
in  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832.  He  gave  active 
support  to  the  Free  Trade  movement,  led  by  Mr. 
Cobden  and  Mr.  Bright ;  he  took  a  strong  interest 
in  the  Irish  legislation  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  was 
in  his  later  years  a  hearty  supporter  of  the  Home 


302  SIR  ISAAC   PITMAN 

Rule  policy  of  the  right  hon.  gentleman.  A 
member  of  the  Bath  Liberal  Association,  he 
occasionally  took  his  seat  on  the  platform  at 
their  meetings ;  his  political  utterances,  when 
invited  to  speak,  had  the  unusual  merits  of 
conciseness  and  brevity.  He  was  a  Vice-President 
of  the  United  Kingdom  Alliance,  and  on  a  well- 
known  occasion,  when  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  ad- 
dressed a  mass  meeting  at  the  Bath  Theatre 
Royal,  Isaac  Pitman,  with  some  friends,  occupied 
a  box,  and  was  evidently  entertained  by  Sir 
Wilfrid's  "  gay  wisdom/'  For  some  time  he 
was  President  of  the  Bath  Temperance  Society 
(the  parent  organization  of  the  city)  and  took 
an  active  part  in  the  Jubilee  celebrations  of  the 
Society  in  1886.  He  was  a  strong  supporter  of 
the  propaganda  of  the  Peace  Society,  but  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  ever  practically  considered  the 
problem  of  national  defence.  In  several  societies 
whose  titles  begin  with  "  Anti  "  he  took  a  consider- 
able interest,  more  particularly  in  those  which  were 
opposed  to  vaccination,  vivisection,  and  tobacco. 

A  very  great  love  of  books,  and  a  conviction 
that  the  cultivation  of  a  taste  for  reading  was  an 
ennobling  thing,  led  Isaac  Pitman  to  take  an  active 
part  in  a  movement  for  providing  the  city  of  Bath 
with  a  Free  Library.  With  this  object  in  view 
a  committee  was  formed,  of  which  the  leading  spirit 
was  Mr.  J.  W.  Morris,  a  zealous  worker  in  many 
good  causes  for  the  intellectual  advancement  and 
benefit  of  his  fellow-citizens.    Isaac  Pitman  joined 


BATH   FREE   LIBRARY  303 

the  committee  and  actively  shared  its  labours. 
A  library  of  about  nine  thousand  volumes,  of 
which  two  thousand  were  presented  by  Isaac 
Pitman,  was  collected,  and  suitable  freehold 
premises  were  purchased  by  Mr.  C.  W.  Mackillop 
for  a  Reading  and  Reference  Library.  In  this 
building  the  library  was  supported  for  six  years 
by  means  of  a  small  voluntary  subscription,  and 
the  experiment  having  successfully  shown  that  it 
could  be  maintained  at  the  cost  of  a  halfpenny 
rate,  the  building  and  its  contents  were  offered 
in  free  gift  to  the  city  of  Bath,  on  condition  that 
the  Free  Libraries  Act  should  be  adopted  by  the 
burgesses,  which  would  have  involved  the  levying 
of  a  rate  of  the  amount  just  mentioned  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  institution.  After  much  con- 
troversy, the  offer  was  rejected  in  1880,  and  conse- 
quently the  library  was  closed.  During  the  time 
that  it  had  been  kept  open  experimentally  Isaac 
Pitman  had  collected  at  his  Institute  eight 
thousand  books  with  the  intention  of  adding 
them  to  the  library  as  soon  as  it  was  taken  over 
by  the  city.  When  the  project  was  abandoned, 
he  decided  that  he  would  distribute  the  volumes, 
which  he  had  intended  to  give  to  the  citizens 
of  Bath,  among  the  free  libraries  throughout 
the  Kingdom,  which  then  numbered  about  one 
hundred  and  ten.  He  accordingly  sent  out  a 
catalogue  to  all  these  libraries  with  an  invitation  to 
them  to  make  a  selection,  and  in  this  way  speedily 
disposed  of  his  collection,  which  included  a  large 


304  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

proportion  of  useful  standard  works.  But  this 
generous  distribution  of  books  by  no  means  com- 
pletes the  story  of  Isaac  Pitman's  gifts  of  books. 
From  this  time  until  the  close  of  his  life  many 
institutions  benefited  by  his  liberality,  but  special 
notice  of  one  only  need  be  made  here.  Reading 
in  the  newspapers  the  speech  of  Mr.  Gladstone 
at  the  opening  of  the  new  Hawarden  Institute  in 
1893,  Isaac  Pitman  made  a  present  of  three 
thousand  volumes  to  the  library  of  the  Institute. 
The  collection  included  "  a  large  proportion  of 
valuable  and  rare  works,  and  books  to  suit  all 
classes  of  readers  "  and,  it  need  hardly  be  said, 
was  greatly  appreciated. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  life  Mr.  Samuel  Carter 
Hall,  the  editor  of  the  Art  Journal,  was  a  frequent 
visitor  to  Bath  with  Mrs.  Hall,  and  became  on 
very  friendly  terms  with  Isaac  Pitman.  Mr.  Hall 
was  at  this  time  engaged  in  the  promotion  of  a 
memorial  to  the  poet  Moore,  who  had  been  a 
personal  friend  of  himself  and  his  wife,  and  for 
whose  genius  he  entertained  high  esteem.  In  this 
project  he  had  the  cordial  support  of  Isaac  Pitman. 
The  poet  with  his  family  were  buried  in  Bromham 
churchyard,  in  Wiltshire,  and  the  memorial  took 
the  form  of  a  window  at  the  west  end  of  the  church 
to  "  complement "  a  memorial  window  to  the 
poet's  widow  in  the  east  end,  placed  there  by  her 
nephew.  The  new  window,  which  had  been  sub- 
scribed for  by  two  hundred  friends  and  admirers  of 
"  The  Poet  of  all  circles  and  the  Idol  of  his  own/' 


MUSIC  305 

was  unveiled  by  Mrs.  Hall.  It  represents  "  The 
Last  Judgment. "  Isaac  Pitman  and  his  wife  were 
among  those  who  journeyed  from  Bath  for  the 
ceremony,  and  after  the  unveiling  he  went  to  the 
organ  and  gave  a  rendering  of  Sir  John  Stephen- 
son's setting  of  Moore's  stirring  poem,  "  Sound  the 
Loud  Timbrel/ '  which  had  just  before  been  recited 
by  Mrs.  Hall.  Afterwards  another  poem  of  Moore's, 
"  Lord,  who  shall  bear  that  day,"  was  recited. 

The  mention  of  Isaac  Pitman's  part  in  the 
Moore  memorial  proceedings  recalls  his  acquaint- 
ance with  music.  In  his  early  life,  as  he  has  told 
us  in  a  speech  already  quoted,  he  had  loved  the 
divine  art  and  played  the  flute  and  the  piano.  At 
that  time  new  music  was  an  expensive  luxury, 
and  those  who  would  provide  themselves  with  it 
had  to  make  copies  of  printed  scores.  In  this 
Isaac  Pitman  engaged  with  great  diligence,  and 
there  are  in  existence  manuscript  books  containing 
hundreds  of  pages  of  music  written  by  him  with 
remarkable  neatness  and  accuracy.  When  but 
seventeen,  he  played  the  organ  at  Conigree  Chapel, 
Trowbridge,  for  a  period  during  the  absence  of  the 
regular  organist.  At  Bath  he  received  lessons  on 
the  organ  from  Mr.  George  Field.  Loving  vocal 
music  even  more  than  instrumental,  he  joined  the 
Bath  Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  conducted  by  Mr 
Bianchi  Taylor,  in  which  he  sang  bass.  As  the 
claims  of  the  Writing  and  Printing  Reform  more 
and  more  engrossed  his  time,  however,  he  gave  up 
the  cultivation  of  his  musical  ability,  although  he 

ao— (2284) 


306 


SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 


frequently  attended  concerts,  and  occasionally 
wrote  critiques  of  them  for  the  Bath  newspapers. 
He  had  a  preference  for  sacred  music  and  delighted 
most  in  the  works  of  Handel. 

In  association  with  Isaac  Pitman's  musical 
efforts  Mr.  Reed  has  preserved  a  specimen  of  his 
work  as  a  composer.  "  In  his  youth,"  Mr.  Reed 
says,  "  Isaac  Pitman  indulged  his  love  of  harmony 
so  far  as  to  compose  a  hymn  tune,  an  anthem  on 
Isaiah  xlix.  13-17,  and  the  following  tune  to  be 
sung  to  a  hymn  which  appeared  in  the  Bath  and 
Cheltenham  Gazette  for  26th  July,  1831  : — 


■±   —7* 


*lzr— I — ! — i=iiF3==P=q-« — L-  J— L|  -  5£g=gi 

-3d-  "*-  "   -*rA:  -+-     *s  -r& 


m$z 


-3d  +-  -    -&:  -+-      *V  -&- 

When  the  bu-sy    day    is  done,  And  up-on  his  couch  the  sun 


■      ■■-•■    ■!■  '■ 


:za: 


33S 


afci:S±ft 


s  -  * 


.Rests, his  course  of  glo-ry  run,  Sancte  Spi  •  ri  -  lus,     be  with  me, 


/?\ 


afciiijxg: 


^ 


"fr*"ig  ll.'^L 


:~r*: 


8i^=* 


at 


<# :^r 


*+J 


.-_?-. 


-S!  — 


Sane  •  te     Spir  •  it  •  us, 


be      with 


me. 


•y-H 


-<s<- 


eg 


AN  ANTHEM  307 

SANCTE  SPIRITUS. 

When  the  busy  day  is  done, 
And  upon  his  couch  the  sun 
Rests,  his  course  of  glory  run, 
Sancte  Spiritus  be  with  me. 

When  the  twilight  shadow  falls 
O'er  the  humming  waterfalls, 
And  zephyr  unto  zephyr  calls, 
Sancte  Spiritus  be  with  me. 

When  the  vesper  murmurs  come 
Through  the  leaf,  and  from  the  tomb, 
From  the  sunset's  crimson  gloom, 
Sancte  Spiritus  be  with  me. 

When  the  moon  is  roaming  high, 
Like  a  seraph,  through  the  sky, 
And  the  one  white  cloud  floats  by, 
Sancte  Spiritus  be  with  me. 

When  the  stars,  those  jewels  rare, 
Fill  with  diamond-lights  the  air, 
And  comes  on  the  hour  of  prayer, 
Sancte  Spiritus  be  with  me. 

Then  when  knees  are  truly  bent, 
And  the  hands  are  clasp'd  intent, 
And  the  voice  to  heaven  is  sent, 
Sancte  Spiritus  be  with  me. 

— H.  C.  Deakin. 

*  The  anthem  was  arranged  thus  : — '  Chorus — 
Sing,  O  heavens  •  and  be  joyful,  O  earth  ;  break 
forth  into  singing,  O  mountains  ;  for  the  Lord 
hath  comforted  his  people,  and  will  have  mercy 
upon  his  afflicted.  Solo,  plaintive — But  Zion  said, 
the  Lord  hath  forsaken  me,  and  my  Lord  hath 
forgotten  me.  Duet,  for  two  Trebles — Can  a 
woman  forget  her  suckling  child,  that  she  should 


/ 


308  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

not  have  compassion  on  the  son  of  her  womb  ? 
Yea,  they  may  forget,  yet  will  I  not  forget  thee. 
Chorus — Behold,  I  have  graven  thee  on  the  palms 
of  my  hands  ;  thy  walls  are  continually  before  me/ 
It  was  sung  with  much  eclat,  his  brother  Jacob 
says,  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe/ '  In  this 
country,  however,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
rendered.  The  anthem  was  composed  at  the  age 
of  sixteen. 

When  the  discussion  on  the  subject  of  uniform- 
ity of  musical  pitch  arose  out  of  a  report  of 
the  Committee  appointed  by  the  Council  of  the 
Society  of  Arts  in  June,  1859,  Isaac  Pitman  drew 
up  a  table  showing  the  number  of  vibrations  of 
each  note  in  comparison  with  every  other  note 
in  the  octave  (the  lowest  in  whole  numbers),  which 
he  published  in  the  Phonetic  Journal  for  29th 
September,  1860,  together  with  an  account  of 
the  proceedings  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society  of 
Arts  held  to  receive  and  discuss  the  Committee's 
report.  As  every  student  of  musical  acoustics 
knows,  the  pitch  of  a  note  depends  upon  the  num- 
ber of  vibrations  produced  in  a  given  time.  The 
C  produced  by  a  32  ft.  organ  pipe  (said  to  be  the 
lowest  possible  music  note)  is  the  result  of  sixteen 
double  or  thirty-two  single  vibrations  per  second  ; 
the  octave  above,  or  the  lowest  C  of  a  grand 
pianoforte,  of  thirty-two  double  vibrations ;  the 
lowest  C  of  a  violoncello  of  sixty-four  ;  tenor  C  of 
128  ;  middle  C  of  the  pianoforte  of  256  ;  and  the 
C  on  the  treble  stave  of  512.    The  intermediate 


TABLE  OF  VIBRATIONS  309 

notes  are  the  results  of  vibrations  represented  by  in- 
termediate numbers,  always  increasing  with  the  rise 
of  the  pitch.   Isaac  Pitman's  table  was  as  follows  :— 


c 

below 
treble 
stave 

D 

E 

F 

G 

A 

B 

C 

3rd  space 
treble 
stave 

c 

3rd  space 
treble 
stave 

2.1 

16.9 

8.5 

3.2 

4.3 

6.5 

16.15 

B 

15.8 

5.3 

3.2 

45.32 

5.4 

9.8 

15.16 

A 

5.3 

40.27 

4.3 

5.4 

11.9 

8.9 

5.6 

G 

3.2 

4.3 

6.5 

9.8 

9.11 

4.5 

3.4 

F 

4.3 

32.27 

16.15 

8.9 

4.5 

32.45 

2.3 

E 

5.4 

10.9 

15.16 

5.6 

3.4 

2.3 

5.8 

D 

9.8 

9.10 

27.32 

3.4 

27.40 

3.5 

9.16 

C 

below 
treble 
stave 

8.9 

4.5 

3.4 

2.3 

3.5 

8.15 

1.2 

310  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

The  table,  it  was  explained,  is  to  be  used  like 
a  multiplication  table  ;  thus,  lower  C  with  G  above 
gives  the  vibrations  as  two  to  three,  while  the  next 
note  D,  with  A  above,  gives  twenty-seven  to  forty, 
etc.  In  the  chord  D,  F  sharp,  A,  the  vibrations 
of  A,  to  agree  with  the  chord  C,  E,  G,  should  be 
forty-and-a-half  instead  of  forty,  or  D  should  be 
twenty-six  and  three-quarters  instead  of  twenty- 
seven.  We  thus  see,  says  Isaac  Pitman,  a  mathe- 
matical demonstration  of  the  distinction  which 
every  musical  ear  feels  in  the  perfection,  or  round- 
ness, of  the  C  chord,  compared  with  the  chord 
of  upper  D,  F  sharp,  A  ;  and  of  the  difference  in 
quality,  as  it  may  be  called,  between  the  various 
"  keys,"  ranging  from  C  natural,  through  G  with 
one  sharp,  F  with  one  flat,  D  with  two  sharps,  B 
flat  with  two  flats,  A  with  three  sharps,  A  flat  with 
four  flats,  and  E  with  four  sharps,  etc. 

Probably  few  men  of  his  generation  so  con- 
sistently lived  the  simple  life  as  Isaac  Pitman. 
His  dietary  was  limited  to  three  moderate  meals 
per  day  from  the  fruits  of  the  earth  ;  of  alcoholic 
liquors  he  never  partook,  and  until  late  in  life  it 
was  not  his  custom  even  to  drink  tea  ;  he  did  not 
smoke,  and  had  a  pronounced  antipathy  to  the 
use  of  tobacco  by  others.  At  the  public  luncheons 
and  banquets  which  he  attended  he  never  departed 
from  his  simple  vegetarian  dietary,  a  fact  over 
which  the  gourmands  present  were  apt  to  chortle, ! 

1  When  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  entertained  the   Inter- 
national Shorthand  Congress  to  luncheon  at  the  Mansion  House, 


VEGETARIANISM  311 


>> 


forgetting  that  with  Isaac  Pitman  "  plain  living 
meant  a  wonderful  measure  of  bodily  health  and 
high  spirits,  and  total  freedom  from  the  ailments 
which  attend  on  so-called  "  generous  living."  He 
was  for  many  years  a  supporter  and  a  Vice- 
President  of  the  Vegetarian  Society.  His  expe- 
rience was  embodied  in  a  letter  he  addressed  to 
The  Times  in  1879,  which  ran  as  follows  : — 

Ser, — A  frend  sujests  tu  me  that  I  ought  tu  reit  a  leter  tu 
The  Times,  plasing  mei  leif-eksperiens  in  kontrast  with  the 
editorial  suming-up  on  Mr  W.  Gibson-Ward's  vejetarian  leter 
in  The  Times  ov  last  Thurzday.  The  konkluzhon  areivd  at  iz  : 
"  So  long  az  no  speshal  kail  iz  tu  be  made  on  the  strength,  a 
piurli  vejetabel  deiet  may  sufeiz."  Az  mei  leif  haz  been  wun 
ov  eksepshonal  aktiviti,  the  fakt  that  it  haz  been  maintaind  on 
a  vejetabel  deiet  ought  tu  be  known,  nou  that  a  diskushon  on 
deiet  haz  been  admited  intu  The  Times. 

Mei  deietetik  eksperiens  iz  simpli  this, — Abuv  forti  yearz  ago 
dispepsia  woz  kariing  me  tu  the  grave.  Medikal  adveizerz 
rekomended  animal  food  three  teimz  a  day  insted  ov  wuns, 
and  a  glas  ov  wein.  On  this  rejimen  I  woz  nuthing  beterd  but 
rather  grew  wurs.  I  avoided  the  meat  and  the  wein,  gradiuali 
rekuverd  mei  dijestiv  pouer,  and  hav  never  sins  nown,  bei  eni 
pain,  that  I  hav  a  stumak. 


Isaac  Pitman's  vegetarianism — he  partook  of  a  potato  and  a  glass 
of  water — attracted  the  attention  of  his  Lordship's  Chaplain,  who 
wrote  impromptu  the  following  Latin  epigram  which  he  handed 
to  Mr.  Reed  : — 

Vina  negat ;    ventri  indulget  non  omne  legumen  ; 
Angulus  ingenio  multus  ubique  latet, 
Ast  ubi  jam  coepit  tabulas  implere  capaces 
Verba  fluunt :    scriptis  angulus  omnis  abest. 

(He  refuses  wine,  and  eats  only  vegetables  ;  many  angles  are 
to  be  found  in  his  mind,  but  when  he  writes  the  words  flow  an4 
every  angle  disappears.) 


312  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

Theze  forti  yearz  hav  been  spent  in  kontiniuus  labor  in 
konekshon  with  the  invenshon  and  propagashon  ov  mei  sistem 
ov  fonetik  shorthand  and  fonetik  speling,  korespondens,  and 
the  editorial  diutiz  ov  mei  weekli  Jurnal.  Though  siksti-feiv 
[66]  yearz  ov  aje,  I  kontiniu  the  kustom  I  hav  folowd  all 
through  this  period,  ov  being  at  mei  ofis  at  siks  in  the  morning, 
sumer  and  winter.  Til  I  woz  fifti  yearz  ov  aje  I  never  tuk  a 
holiday,  or  felt  that  I  wonted  wun  ;  and  for  about  twenti 
yearz  in  the  ferst  part  ov  this  period  I  woz  at  mei  desk  fourteen 
ourz  a  day,  from  siks  in  the  morning  til  ten  at  neit,  with  two 
ourz  out  for  mealz.  Twenti  yearz  ago  I  began  tu  leav  of  at 
siks  in  the  evening. 

I  attribiut  mei  helth  and  pouer  ov  endiurans  tu  abstinens 
from  flesh  meat  and  alkoholik  drinks.  I  kan  kum  tu  no  uther 
konkluzhon  when  I  see  the  efekt  ov  such  ekstended  ourz  ov 
labor  on  uther  men  who  eat  meat  and  drink  wein  or  beer. 

I  hav  riten  mei  leter  fonetikali,  az  iz  mei  kustom,  and  shal 
feel  obleijd  if  it  be  aloud  thus  tu  apear  in  The  Times. 

Eizak  Pitman. 

Fonetik  Institiut,  Bath,  27  Janiueri,  1879. 

He  bore  somewhat  similar  testimony  in  a  con- 
tribution to  a  work  entitled  "  Study  and  Stimu- 
lants/' edited  by  Mr.  A.  Arthur  Reade,  containing 
the  personal  experiences  of  many  eminent  men, 
which  was  published  in  1883.  "  From  my  own 
experience/ '  he  wrote,  "  of  the  benefits  of  abstain- 
ing from  the  sedative  alcohol,  and  the  stimulants 
tobacco  and  snuff ;  and  my  observations  of  the 
effects  of  these  things  on  persons  who  indulge  in 
them,  I  have  a  firm  conviction  that  they  exercise  a 
deadly  influence  on  the  human  race."  Isaac 
Pitman's  repugnance  to  tobacco  led  him  at  times 
to  a  very  active  campaign  against  the  offending 


THE   AUTOGRAPH   HUNTER         313 

weed.  In  1895  he  addressed  a  circular  to  the 
members  of  the  Bath  Town  Council  on  the  subject, 
which  may  be  quoted  here  as  typical  of  his  attitude 
towards  tobacco.  "  The  bright  days,"  he  wrote, 
"  when  the  breezes  from  our  hills  will  not  be 
polluted  by  tobacco  smoke  as  they  descend  into 
the  streets  of  our  beautiful  city  may  be  very  dis- 
tant ;  but  that  the  change  will  come  I  have  no 
doubt.  Such  a  change  of  public  opinion  and  prac- 
tise as  would  permit  the  Council  to  enact  a  by-law 
against  smoking  in  the  streets  may  begin  by  a 
perusal,  by  the  Council,  of  the  Anti-Tobacco 
literature  which  I  have  the  pleasure  of  sending." 

For  the  autograph  hunter  Isaac  Pitman  had 
the  keenest  aversion.  No  man  probably  ever 
wrote  so  many  letters  to  unknown  correspondents 
as  he  did  in  shorthand  on  matters  relating  to  his 
system,  or  in  reformed  spelling  on  questions 
concerning  that  branch  of  his  work.  But  he  had 
a  great  contempt  for  the  trifler  who  wrote  u  to 
know  if  you  would  give  me  one  of  your  autographs, 
as  I  am  collecting  them,  and  should  like  to  have 
one  of  yours  in  my  collection."  For  all  such  he 
had  prepared  a  printed  tract  which  dealt  in  some- 
what trenchant  fashion  with  "  the  power  of  being 
a  nuisance."  A  copy  of  this  was  addressed  by  a 
junior  clerk  to  the  autograph  hunter,  who,  if  he 
was  disappointed  in  his  quest,  at  least  received 
wholesome  advice  on  the  error  of  his  ways. 

There  was  at  different  times  a  certain  rapproche- 
ment  of    Phonography    and    Phrenology,    which . 


314  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

probably  arose  from  the  fact  that  in  the  early  part 
of  Isaac  Pitman's  career  a  good  many  people  were 
enthusiastic  students  and  advocates  of  the  two 
subjects.     At  any  rate,  both  were  associated  in  the 
denunciation  of  the  Rev.  E.  Bickersteth,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made.     Isaac  Pitman's 
interest  in  Phrenology  no  doubt  arose  in  the  first 
place  from  his  contact  with  Mr.  L.  N.  Fowler, 
of  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Fowler  and  Wells,  of  New 
York,  who  was  a  well-known  exponent  of  it  in  the 
early  days  of  Phonography.     In  later  years  he 
submitted  his  head  for  examination  several  times, 
and  lastly,  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  he  was 
"  phrenologically  examined,"  by  Mr.  James  Webb, 
a    past    President    of   the    British    Phrenological 
Association,  whose  report  was  "privately  printed" 
in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet.     Mr.  Webb's  examina- 
tion, with  the  aid  of  measuring  tape  and  calipers, 
was  also  a  semi-interview,  in  which  Isaac  Pitman 
mentioned  some  of  the  facts  of  his  life  and  gave 
expression  to  a  few  opinions.     Mr.  Webb  himself 
notes  certain  data  which  are  worthy  of  repro- 
duction.    He   found   that    Isaac   Pitman's   head 
was  large,  which  was  due  not  only  to  the  circum- 
ference of  nearly  23  in.,  but  to  the  large  coronal 
development  from  the  root  of  the  nose  to  the 
occiput  of   12J  in.      Mr.   Webb  also  noted  the 
transparency  of  his  skin,  the  exceeding  fineness 
of  his  hair,  and  the  clearness  and  purity  of  his 
eyes.     At   the   time   of   this   examination    Isaac 
Pitman  was  in  his  eighty-third  year, 


ART  315 

The  investigation  does  not  appear  to  have  dis- 
closed any  appreciation  for  art.  His  brother 
Benn  says  that  "  Isaac  was  somewhat  deficient 
in  aesthetic  taste.  He  was  precise,  orderly,  metho- 
dical, and  clean  in  body  and  mind ;  and  with 
a  simplicity  and  directness  of  soul  that  we  look 
for  only  in  the  innocency  of  childhood.  But  he 
had  little  appreciation  of,  or  care  for,  things  of 
beauty,  or  of  the  fine  art  works/ '  Against  this 
criticism  it  is  only  just  to  Isaac  Pitman  to  mention 
his  great  interest  in  the  Art  Journal,  and  his 
anticipation  of  a  time  when  he  should  enjoy  the 
perusal  of  a  set  of  the  volumes  of  this  magazine, 
which  he  took  much  pleasure  in  completing  and 
in  binding  in  a  style  befitting  the  artistic  treasures 
the  volumes  contained.  And  the  testimony  of 
his  brother  Henry  deserves  to  be  quoted  :  "  Isaac 
had  intense  love  for  all  things  beautiful.  Why 
did  he  visit  the  Art  Treasures  Exhibition  at 
Manchester  ?  He  spent  many  hours  there 
examining  the  pictures.,, 

A  point  in  Mr.  Webb's  delineation  indicated 
an  amiable  weakness.  His  "  Caution  "  was  large 
but  somewhat  eccentric  in  action,  so  that  there 
was  some  likelihood  of  his  being  deceived  by  the 
plausible,  etc.  Isaac  Pitman  was,  in  fact,  inclined 
to  trust  a  little  too  readily  to  the  truthfulness 
of  those  who  aroused  his  sympathy.  A  single 
instance  may  be  mentioned.  At  the  time  when 
the  feelings  of  the  nation  were  excited  by  the 
sufferings  of  the  Poles,  there  came  to  Bath  a 


316  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

certain  individual  who  described  himself  as  a 
Polish  refugee.  Isaac  Pitman  went  to  the  trouble 
and  expense  of  printing  the  man's  story  for 
circulation  among  the  benevolent,  but  it  was 
afterwards  found  that  the  interesting  stranger  was 
not  what  he  represented  himself  to  be. 

One  day,  when  the  subject  of  this  "  Life " 
was  absent  from  home,  an  American  gentleman 
presented  himself  at  his  private  residence  and 
informed  the  astonished  maid  that  he  was  Isaac 
Pitman  !  Later  on  the  two  Isaac  Pitmans  had 
an  opportunity  of  fraternizing.  Although  they 
were  not  doubles  in  the  sense  of  having  a  personal 
resemblance,  they  yet  possessed  many  striking 
similarities.  This  will  be  best  indicated  by  the 
reproduction  of  a  letter  which  Dr.  Thomas  Hill, 
a  former  President  of  Harvard  University,  wrote 
to  Mr.  Benn  Pitman,  as  follows  : — 

Waltham,  Mass., 

22nd  June,  1891. 

I  have  wanted  to  tell  you,  if  I  have  not  done  so,  of  a  curious 
coincidence.  Professor  Barber,  at  Meadville,  told  me  that 
when  he  was  in  Somerville,  Mass.,  he  had  a  parishioner  named 
Isaac  Pitman,  a  very  enthusiastic  phonographer.  This 
American  Pitman  went  to  England,  and  while  there  called  on 
your  brother  Isaac  Pitman.  The  two  men  had  been  born 
and  brought  up  on  opposite  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  but  were  of 
no  known  relationship.  But  they  were  of  the  same  age,  of  the 
same  name,  with  the  same  zeal  for  Shorthand,  with  the  same 
devotion  to  Swedenborg,  and  with  the  same  adherence  to  two 
or  three  other  isms  ;  Professor  Barber  thinks  that  homeopathy 


AMERICAN   NAMESAKE  317 

and  vegetarianism  were  among  them.  This  is,  it  seems  to  me, 
a  very  curious  set  of  coincidences,  and  would  seem  to  indicate 
the  probability  of  mental  peculiarity  inherited  from  a  common 
ancestor  several  generations  back. 

It  was  in  the  early  seventies  that  the  American 
Isaac  Pitman  visited  the  Inventor  of  Phonography. 
The  American  namesake's  death  occurred  on  the 
3rd  April,  1895,  and  the  notice  of  it  in  the  American 
papers  led  some  people  to  suppose  that  the 
English  holder  of  the  famous  name  had  at  that 
time  departed  this  life,  an  idea  which  was  promptly 
contradicted  by  the  newspaper  correspondents. 


XXIV 

LAST    YEARS 

1895-1897 

On  a  wintry  day  at  the  beginning  of  1895,  when 
Bath  was  covered  with  a  mantle  of  snow,  Mrs. 
Sarah  A.  Tooley  paid  a  visit  to  the  city,  and  had 
an  interview  with  the  Inventor  of  Phonography 
at  the  Royal  Crescent,  an  account  of  which  was 
soon  afterwards  published  in  The  Young  Man 
under  the  title  of  "  Sir  Isaac  Pitman  at  Home." 

"  Now  I  knew,"  Mrs.  Tooley  wrote,  "  that  the 
morrow  (4th  January)  was  the  eighty-second 
(third)  birthday  of  the  Grand  Old  Man  of  Phono- 
graphy, and  had  he  received  me  in  an  easy  chair 
by  the  fireside  it  would  have  seemed  the  most 
natural  thing  possible  on  a  cold  afternoon  in  mid- 
winter. Instead,  I  found  him  in  his  study,  seated 
at  his  writing-table  immersed  in  correspondence, 
and  with  no  apparent  thought  about  fire.  He 
rose  quickly  to  greet  me  in  his  simple,  kindly  way, 
and  I  saw  that  though  his  back  was  slightly  bent, 
and  his  hair  and  beard  were  white  as  the  snow 
outside,  his  eye  was  bright  and  keen,  and  his  face 
ruddy  as  a  winter's  apple.  His  speech  is  rapid 
and  clear,  but  he  is  so  full  of  action,  and  has  so 
many  things  crowding  in  upon  his  mind,  that  it 
is  with  difficulty  he  talks  upon  one  subject  for 
any  length  of  time.  Small  wonder  that,  with  his 
active  temperament,  he  early  discovered  longhand 

318 


.  ©f  At-  muVs^vuf^ortttano  ©rtVrs  in  tJTts  aistant  p#rfi«n 
ft'  the  tjiijnre  whoso  Qneen  lias  ararionsCi)  lierfeiwi1  or,  jjon  tiie  Honor  of  Jjjjuaik 
««!>,  Nsire  to  offer  war  itearti)  coR«,mtn(o)tion«  to  tjsn  on  t/)t  attainment  of  tills  nvU 
nieriteo  lienor,  ant  to  QtmtM  flwos&otn  «;t>  twnoratioii  fornen  peiwn«ftt|  «»«ii«(f 

Jjfc  writers  of  tlje  system  of  Jftonotfrnpfji)  of  isfoli  non  <w 
tiie  mtwnfor.  we  f»v«)#  special  opportunities  of  tbunm,  ant,  \a,oair,n,  fht  nwrv-nribo 
benefits  wfeji  yon  how  oonterwo  on  RtfnJftg,  bn  petfeetino,  tJ)<  beautiful  «n>  nsefnf 
art  with,  wW  ijowr  nam*  nnlljje  for  etxr  w$Ku«b< 

Barma,  gtr  (B^cshl's  Wito,  t>n>  o/eriotts  reia^,  ftta,!)  Hs- 
tinttions  how  wm  coHifnvi'  or,  manij  awat  mm  for  eminence  in  (tlmma.MiM, 
an>  art,  tint  we  wnfure  to  affirm  tqat  fen>  innentions  of  tins  wrteMww  bom  *f 
ecroatcr  or  mow  lastino,  benefit  to  mnnfenc.  tW  flu  art  wfikn  R>»K  remain  a 
motutmcjit  of  nour  a,or,ms-  on  art  mhidj  tias.  oenc  so  mad)  to  tanutate  tfi?  trcasnnna, 
up  for  «i<  edification ,  tvjiafit,  sw  instrortwu  of  hrtntr  oynttuttons.  Ok  Wfcf,  etoaaont. 
ano  inspirmo,  wore*  of  tlw  master  intnks  of  tf|f  oajj. 

JUtf|M>a,l)  trie  4wor  whiff  non  now  receive  (ja>  been  Cona, 
Mom?,  an*  com«  to  non  at  a  patriarchal  aa/,  wo  sincerefo  hope  fW  ijou  man 
still  be  spare?  mani)  n/ars  to  <ii\oi)  %  cHstinctton  ijou  h>roe  so  nierthi(>i  n»n . 

0e  are,  )>c*r  Jtrr Isaac, 
.^oiirj  sincere!)) . 


\v* 


,.&$£ 


{, 


AUSTRALIAN    ADDRESS    PRESENTED    IN    1894 


AT  THE  ROYAL  CRESCENT        319 

to  be  an  unmitigated  nuisance,  and  the  ordinary 
method  of  spelling  an  unendurable  bore.  After 
being  in  Sir  Isaac  Pitman's  company  for  five 
minutes,  I  was  amazed,  not  that  he  had  taught 
people  to  write  at  more  than  two  hundred  words 
a  minute,  but  that  he  had  not  also  invented  a 
'  shorthand  '  form  of  speech/' 

A  graphic  sketch  of  Sir  Isaac's  career  followed, 
and  then  the  interviewer  proceeded  : — 

"  I  had  been  talking  with  Sir  Isaac  in  his  hand- 
some dining-room,  but  I  wished  to  see  him  in  his 
own  special  sanctum,  and  he  kindly  led  the  way 
to  what  I  should  call  a  '  study/  but  he  prefers  the 
designation  of  '  office  '  ;  '  I  do  not  study/  he  said, 
I  only  work.'  The  office  is  a  long  room,  with 
writing  and  other  tables  running  down  the  centre. 
At  the  window  sits  Sir  Isaac  at  his  desk ;  rows  of 
neatly  kept  pigeon  holes  surmount  his  table,  and 
above  them  is  a  handsome  testimonial  in  an  oak 
frame,  presented  to  him  by  the  shorthand  writers 
of  Australia,  as  a  mark  of  their  appreciation  of 
his  lifelong  services  to  Phonography,  and  also  as' 
a  congratulatory  tribute  to  him  upon  his  recent 
knighthood.  Sir  Isaac  jumped  nimbly  on  to  the 
table  and  brought  down  the  testimonial  for  my 
inspection.  Well-filled  book-cases  cover  every 
available  inch  of  the  room.  Above  the  book-cases 
are  the  seven  cartoons  of  Raphael,  and  over  the 
largest  book-case  is  a  bust  of  Milton.  Phonetic 
literature  lies  in  piles  on  the  tables  and  floor,  but 
there  is  no  disorder.  .  .  .  Directly  Sir  Isaac 
enters  his  office  it  seems  that  he  must  sit  down 
to  his  table  to  write,  and  it  is  deeply  interesting 
to  note  the  truly  winged  swiftness  with  which  he 


320  SIR  ISAAC  PITMAN 

makes  the  signs  of  Phonography.  He  showed  me 
with  pride  a  letter  in  shorthand  from  Archbishop 
Walsh,  of  Dublin,  a  disciple  of  whom  he  is  very 
proud."* 

Few  indeed  are  the  number  of  reformers  who, 
having  passed  their  eightieth  year,  have  still  the 
inclination  and  the  strength  to  work  for  their 
cause  as  they  did  in  earlier  years.  Isaac  Pitman 
has  this  unique  distinction,  for  it  may  be  said 
with  truth  that  from  the  time  he  set  his  hand  to 
the  Spelling  Reform  in  the  early  forties  until  the 
closing  days  of  his  life  he  never  relaxed  his  efforts. 
After  the  date  of  his  retirement  from  partnership 
with  his  sons,  until  the  final  phase  of  his  last  illness 
— a  period  of  nearly  two  years  and  a  half — he 
worked  for  the  Spelling  Reform  with  unabated 
persistency,  and  expended  more  than  one  thousand 
pounds  a  year  in  the  promotion  of  the  cause. 
For  the  accommodation  of  a  publishing  staff  his 
"  office "  at  the  Royal  Crescent  was  unsuited  ; 
the  Phonetic  Institute  was  too  distant  from  his 
home  to  permit  of  his  personal  attendance  there 
to  supervise  whatever  work  he  had  in  hand. 
Accordingly  in  March,  1895,  he  engaged  two 
spacious  rooms  on  the  first  floor  at  No.  43  Milsom 
Street,  the  leading  business  thoroughfare  in  Bath, 
and  there  opened  The  Institute  of  Spelling  Reform. 


*  The  Archbishop  when  on  a  visit  to  Bath  some  time 
previously  had  called  on  Isaac  Pitman  at  the  Phonetic 
Institute. 


A  LAST  VISIT  321 

The  new  office  was  an  easy  distance  from  the 
Royal  Crescent,  but  as  his  power  of  walking  had 
greatly  diminished,  he  availed  himself  of  wheel- 
chair conveyance  when  he  felt  that  he  needed  this 
assistance.  "  I  have  now  recovered  my  wonted 
health/'  he  wrote  in  July,  "  and  am  at  my  desk 
as  of  old  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning." 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  Isaac  Pitman  was 
visited  for  the  last  time  by  his  old  disciple,  Mr. 
Reed.  Fifty-two  years  had  passed  over  the  heads 
of  both  of  them  since  the  latter,  then  a  stripling 
of  sixteen,  made  his  earliest  visit  to  the  first 
Institute  established  in  the  city  of  Bath.  As  on 
that  occasion,  he  found  Isaac  Pitman  at  his  desk 
promoting  the  Reform  with  his  ever-ready  pen, 
and  around  him  as  of  old  was  a  staff  engaged  in 
the  distribution  of  its  literature.  Mr.  Reed  enters 
into  details,  and  some  of  these  may  be  quoted  as 
typical  of  the  work  which  was  carried  on  from 
day  to  day  to  the  end.  He  found  Isaac  Pitman  in 
Milsom  Street  superintending  the  distribution  of 
a  letter  and  literature  on  Spelling  Reform  which 
was  being  sent  to  the  28,000  members  and  5,000 
officers  of  the  National  Union  of  Teachers  at  a 
cost  of  over  £200.  "  Nothing,"  he  exclaims, 
"  could  be  more  characteristic  of  his  marvellous 
energy  and  patient  toil.  For  this  outlay  of  time, 
labour,  and  money  he  will  not  receive  a  penny 
return  ;  the  only  recompense  he  seeks  being  the 
satisfaction  of  contributing  to  the  removal  of  the 
1  Spelling    Difficulty '    which — to    use    his    own 

21— (2284) 


322  SIR   ISAAC    PITMAN 

words — '  broods  like  a  nightmare  over  all  branches 
of  education/  It  was  in  this  persistent,  deter- 
mined way  that  more  than  half  a  century  ago  he 
sent  forth  Phonography  into  the  world,  and  laid 
the  foundation  for  its  becoming  co-extensive  with 
the  English  language.  His  phonographic  enter- 
prise brought  him  fame  and  material  means,  both 
well  deserved.  The  latter  he  has,  for  years  past, 
liberally  dispensed,  and  is  still  dispensing,  in 
furtherance  of  his  darling  project  of  lessening  the 
toils  of  infancy,  and  removing  a  standing  reproach 
from  the  noble  English  tongue.  I  confess  that, 
familiar  as  I  am  with  his  indomitable  perseverance, 
I  am  amazed  at  the  energy  he  still  displays.' ' 

In  addition  to  his  efforts  on  behalf  of  Spelling 
Reform,  Isaac  Pitman  manifested  during  these 
years  considerable  activity  in  another  direction. 
He  desired  to  make  certain  changes  in  Phono- 
graphy, which  would  have  had  the  effect  of  turning 
the  system  as  it  exists  in  the  present  day  into  the 
Tenth  Edition  of  1857,  while  at  least  one  of  the 
proposals  showed  a  reversion  to  a  much  earlier 
edition.  A  protracted  and  strenuous  controversy 
arose  over  the  project  which — whatever  its  merits 
or  demerits — would  without  question  have  disas- 
trously affected  the  progress  of  the  art.  Its 
inventor  did  not  realize  that  the  day  for  making 
fundamental  changes  in  his  system  had  passed 
now  that  Phonography  had  taken  its  place  among 
educational  subjects  which  are  universally  taught. 
The    proposals     were    finally    submitted     to    a 


a 


THE   SPELER"  323 


committee  of  phonographic  experts,  and  as  their 
verdict  was  unfavourable  to  the  alterations,  it 
was  not  considered  advisable  to  change  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  system — a  decision,  however,  in 
which  the  originator  of  Phonography  did  not 
acquiesce. 

For  the  promotion  of  the  projects  enumerated 
above  Isaac  Pitman  in  January,  1895,  began  the 
publication  of  a  new  monthly  periodical  which 
he  named  The  Speler.  This  was  designed  for  the 
promotion  of  six  objects,  which  were  set  forth 
under  the  title.  The  first  three  related  to  the 
inculcation  of  Swedenborgian  belief  and  practice, 
and  in  this  association  he  published,  under  the 
heading  of  "  Reminiscences/'  a  full  account  of 
his  reception  of  the  New  Church  doctrines  nearly 
sixty  years  before.  The  fourth  object  was  Spelling 
Reform,  The  Speler  being  printed  throughout  in 
the"  First  Stage  "  style,  with  articles  explaining  or 
advocating  the  method.  The  fifth  object  was  Short- 
hand, and  was  devoted  chiefly  to  advocacy  of  the 
changes  he  was  now  proposing.  The  sixth  object 
was  Peace,  and  included  matter  relating  to  the 
objects  and  aims  of  the  Peace  Society.  The 
"  Reminiscences  "  and  some  other  contributions 
in  The  Speler,  were  reproduced  in  book  form. 

Isaac  Pitman's  last  appearance  on  a  public 
platform  in  advocacy  of  the  Spelling  Reform  was 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Bath  branch  of  the  National 
Union  of  Teachers  on  20th  June,  1896,  when  "  the 
oldest  British  schoolmaster  alive  "  delivered  to  an 


324  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

interested  audience  a  lucid  address  on  the  need 
and  practicability  of  orthographic  reform. 

On  the  8th  September,  1896,  a  statement 
appeared  in  the  newspapers  which  was  received 
with  widespread  expressions  of  regret  wherever  the 
English  language  is  spoken.  It  announced  that 
the  state  of  health  of  the  venerable  Inventor  of 
Phonography  was  occasioning  considerable  anxiety 
to  his  family.  He  was  again  suffering  from 
congestion  of  the  lungs,  and  although  in  about  a 
month's  time  he  was  able  to  leave  his  bed,  there 
was  no  recovery  of  strength,  and  during  the 
autumn  he  gradually  grew  weaker.  At  Michael- 
mas the  family  removed  from  No.  12  to  No.  17 
Royal  Crescent,  and  the  move  was  effected  without 
occasioning  the  smallest  discomfort  to  the  invalid, 
who  was  indeed  greatly  interested  in  it.  "It  is 
often  said,"  it  was  observed  in  the  Bath  Herald  at 
the  beginning  of  December,  "  that  hope  on  the 
part  of  the  patient  has  an  excellent  effect,  and, 
if  that  is  so,  Sir  Isaac  possesses  a  very  valuable 
quality,  for  he  would  be  the  last  to  give  way.  .  .  . 
He  is,  however,  quite  confined  to  his  bed  and 
sitting  rooms,  which  open  one  into  the  other, 
and  finds  his  daily  self-imposed  task  of  inditing  a 
few  letters  and  dictating  others  to  a  clerk,  all 
that  his  strength  can  accomplish,  and  even  this 
sometimes  occasions  great  exhaustion/ ' 

Throughout  his  last  illness  the  serenity  and 
cheerfulness  of  mind  displayed  by  Isaac  Pitman 
made  a  striking  impression  on  his  many  friends. 


NO.    17    ROYAL    CRESCENT,    BATH 


PRESENTATION   TO   BATH  325 

His  increasing  bodily  weakness  was  felt  by  the 
veteran  worker,  but  it  was  not  a  theme  of  com- 
plaint, or  of  despondency.  Writing  to  his  brother 
Henry  at  this  time  he  said,  -  ■  I  must  expect  a 
continual  decrease  of  strength  until  the  heart  gives 
its  last  pulsation,  and  the  angelic  messengers  who 
wait  on  the  dying  draw  out  the  spiritual  body 
from  this  one.  Then  I  shall  have  a  sound  heart, 
and  get  to  work  in  my  new  sphere  of  liie.,,  On 
his  85th  birthday,  on  the  4th  January,  1897,  he 
was  in  excellent  spirits,  but  being  very  feeble,  he 
was  wheeled  in  an  armchair  into  the  sitting  room 
adjoining  his  bedroom,  where  many  friends  visited 
him  to  offer  sympathetic  congratulations.  The 
day  was  wintry,  and  on  grasping  the  hand  of 
one  of  his  visitors  the  veteran  observed  that  the 
weather  must  be  cold  :  "  They  take  so  much  care 
of  me/'  he  added,  alluding  to  the  warmth  of  the 
room,  "  that  I  am  not  aware  of  the  cold  out  of 
doors."  After  his  birthday  increasing  weakness 
gave  to  Isaac  Pitman  unmistakable  warning  that 
his  earthly  career  had  almost  run  its  course.  He 
arranged  for  the  January  issue  of  his  periodical, 
and  he  then  performed  the  last  public  act  of  his 
life,  by  presenting  through  Mr.  J.  W.  Morris,  a 
valuable  collection  of  works  of  reference  to  the 
Bath  Corporation,  which  had  at  that  time  realized 
one  portion  at  least  of  the  scheme  for  which  he 
had  worked  with  Mr.  Morris  in  earlier  years,  by 
establishing  a  Free  Reference  Library  in  the 
Municipal  Buildings. 


326  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

His  death  occurred  at  ten  minutes  to  eight 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  22nd  January, 
1897 ;  he  was  free  from  pain,  and  conscious 
almost  to  the  last.  On  the  eve  of  the  final 
summons  he  had  simply  and  touchingly  described 
his  end  in  a  message  he  entrusted  to  the  Rev. 
Gordon  Drummond,  at  that  time  the  Minister  of 
the  New  Church  at  Bath,  which  was  in  these 
words  : — - 

"  To  those  who  ask  how  Isaac  Pitman  passed 
away,  say,  Peacefully,  and  with  no  more  concern 
than  in  passing  from  one  room  into  another  to  take 
up  some  further  employment." 


XXV 

PUBLIC   TRIBUTES 

His  long  illness  had  prepared  Isaac  Pitman's 
many  friends  and  disciples  for  the  inevitable  end, 
but  to  numbers  of  those  who  had  been  in  frequent 
communication  with  him  till  within  a  day  or  two 
of  his  death,  there  seemed  a  sense  of  unreality  in 
the  announcement.  Could  it  be  true  that  the 
hand  of  the  unwearied  worker  in  the  cause  of  brief 
writing  and  spelling  reform,  and  of  many  move- 
ments designed  for  spiritual  or  social  amelioration, 
was  for  ever  still  ?  The  Press  of  the  country 
which  told  the  story  of  his  life  and  gave  its  estimate 
of  his  work  left  no  room  for  doubt.  Most  of  those 
who  dealt  with  his  career  in  the  newspapers  were 
writers  of  Phonography,  and  there  were  here  and 
there  indications  that  they  felt  the  loss  of  one 
whose  art  had  aided  them  so  much  as  though  it 
were  that  of  a  personal  friend.  From  all  parts  of 
the  world,  from  individuals  and  from  societies, 
expressions  of  sympathy  reached  Lady  Pitman 
and  her  sons. 

The  funeral  service  was  held  at  the  New  Church, 
Henry  Street,  Bath,  on  Wednesday  morning, 
27th  January,  and  was  attended  by  the  Mayor  of 
Bath  (Mr.  G.  Woodiwiss)  and  a  large  and  repre- 
sentative company  of  the  citizens  of  Bath.  After 
the  service  the  body  was  conveyed  to  Woking  for 

327 


328  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

cremation,  in  compliance  with  the  following 
direction  left  by  Isaac  Pitman  :  "  I  desire  that  on 
my  departure  to  the  spiritual  world  my  body  may 
be  cremated,  as  a  more  wholesome  and  more 
pleasant  manner  of  disposal  than  burial  in  the 
earth/'  There  was  on  the  following  day  (Thurs- 
day) a  service  in  the  hall  attached  to  the  Woking 
Crematorium,  which  was  conducted  by  the  Rev. 
J.  Ashby  (President  of  the  New  Church  Confer- 
ence) and  the  Rev.  Gordon  Drummond.  After 
cremation,  the  ashes  of  the  departed  were  pre- 
served in  a  casket  of  bronze,  which  is  in  the  keeping 
of  his  family. 

Simultaneously  with  the  proceedings  at  Woking 
a  large  congregation  assembled  at  a  Memorial 
Service  at  the  New  Church,  Argyle  Square, 
London,  which  was  conducted  by  the  Rev.  A. 
Faraday.  A  similar  Memorial  Service  was  held 
at  the  Bath  Abbey  Church,  and  was  attended  b}' 
the  Mayor  and  a  number  of  leading  citizens. 
From  the  pulpit  of  the  venerable  Abbey  Church, 
the  then  Rector  of  Bath,  now  Bishop  of  Sheffield 
(Dr.  Quirk),  had  on  the  previous  Sunday  morning 
paid  an  eloquent  tribute  to  the  departed,  and 
had  spoken  of  his  career  as  an  illustration  of 
self-sacrifice. 

Isaac  Pitman's  system  is  his  best  memorial,  but 
record  must  here  be  made  of  honours  paid  to  his 
memory.  The  Corporation  of  the  City  of  Bath 
marks  with  suitable  mural  tablets  the  dwellings  of 
celebrities  of  the  historic  past,  but  on  15th  July, 


MEMORIALS 


329 


1901,  it  placed  on  the  house  where  Isaac  Pitman 
died  the  first  tablet  erected  to  a  worthy  well-known 
to  the  majority  of  those  who  assembled  at  the 


MEMORIAL    TABLET    PLACED    BY    THE    BATH    CORPORATION 
ON    NO.     17    ROYAL    CRESCENT,    BATH 

unveiling  ceremony,  which  was  performed  by 
Mr.  Arthur  W.  a  Beckett  (President  of  the  Institute 
of  Journalists). 

Directly  after  the  death  of  the  Inventor  of 
Phonography  a  movement  was  initiated  with  a 
view  to  the  provision  of  a  permanent  national 
memorial.  Twelve  hundred  friends  and  admirers 
in  all  parts  of  the  world  contributed,  and  it  was 
decided  that  the  memorial  should  take  the  form 
of  a  portrait  in  oils.  The  work  was  undertaken 
by  Mr.  Arthur  S.  Cope,  A.R.A.,  who  produced  a 
portrait  universally  acknowledged  to  be  an  ad- 
mirable likeness.  A  photogravure  from  this  por- 
trait forms  the  frontispiece  of  the  present  volume. 
In  July,   1908,  the  Memorial  Committee  offered 


330  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 

the  portrait  to  the  Trustees  of  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery,  London,  by  whom  it  was 
accepted.  It  is  hung  in  Room  XVIII,  the  central 
corridor  on  the  first  floor. 

In  the  many  estimates  of  the  life  work  of  Isaac 
Pitman  which  appeared  in  the  Press  of  the  world 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  there  was  no  truer  observa- 
tion than  that  of  the  Cologne  Gazette — representa- 
tive of  German  opinion — that  in  the  two  directions 
of  stenography  and  phonetic  spelling  "  he  must  be 
reckoned  among  those  who  have  exercised  an 
unusually  great  and  happy  influence  upon  their 
race."  An  American  estimate  was  expressed  at 
a  somewhat  earlier  period  by  the  Rev.  Edward 
Everett  Hale,  who  in  remarking  on  the  gratitude 
due  to  Isaac  Pitman  from  the  English  speaking 
race,  pointed  out  that  "  the  step  forward  in  written 
language,  which  was  due  to  his  ingenuity,  his 
science,  his  steadfast  perseverance,  is  a  step  which 
marks,  not  only  the  literature  of  our  time,  but  its 
commercial  transactions,  its  mechanical  work,  and 
quite  as  directly  its  scientific  activity/ ' 

A  moment's  reflection  will  show  that  Isaac 
Pitman's  achievement  is  unique,  and  that  its 
success  has  been  phenomenal.  The  majority  of 
the  systems  of  English  shorthand  have  passed  into 
oblivion,  or  are  practised  only  by  a  few,  while  the 
method  of  writing  for  which  the  world  is  indebted 
to  his  genius  has  come  into  universal  use.  In 
the  United  Kingdom,  except  in  the  most  thinly 
populated  parts,  it  is  everywhere  taught ;    it  is 


A  UNIVERSAL  SYSTEM  331 

practised  in  Africa,  wherever  the  English  language 
has  penetrated  ;  in  India  votaries  of  the  art  are 
found  from  Colombo  to  the  Himalayas ;  in  Australia 
Phonography  has  been  taught  and  practised  as 
long  as  in  the  old  country.  Across  the  Atlantic  we 
find  the  method  held  in  high  esteem  both  in 
Canada  and  in  the  United  States,  and  universally 
employed ;  in  South  America  it  is  in  general 
use  in  Spanish  adaptations.  What  is  said  of 
the  British  Empire  may  be  said  of  Pitman's 
Phonography — the  sun  never  sets  upon  it. 

To  an  age  which  appreciates  time  and  labour 
saving  inventions  Isaac  Pitman's  shorthand 
appeals  with  especial  force.  But  to  his  strenuous 
advocacy  of  the  much  needed  reform  in  our  spelling 
it  has  been  comparatively  indifferent.  Some  day, 
and  possibly  sooner  than  anticipated,  the  reform 
of  our  orthography  will  become  a  practical  ques- 
tion. When  that  time  arrives  the  lifelong  labours 
of  Isaac  Pitman  in  this  direction  will  not  have 
been  in  vain. 


332  SIR   ISAAC   PITMAN 


(From  The  Literary  World.) 

IN   MEMORIAM. 
Sir  Isaac  Pitman. 

Say,  Mercury  is  dead  !     He  whom  the  gods 
Deputed  to  the  task  of  teaching  men 
The  way  to  quicken  thought,  to  give  it  wings, 
And  bind  the  broken  fragments  of  discourse. 
Not  in  this  age  shall  honour  due  be  paid 
To  him  who  more  than  most  helped  to  advance 
The  human  race  along  the  paths  of  peace. 
Succeeding  generations  will  proclaim 
With  clearer  voice  the  victory  he  won — 
Will  rank  him  higher  than  the  men  who  slew 
Their  fellow-men  in  thousands  on  the  field, 
Or  grabb'd  at  honours  in  a  Party's  cause, 
With  self  the  sole  objective  unconfessed. 

F. 


APPENDIX    I 


A    REPRINT  OF    "  STENOGRAPHIC    SOUND-HAND." 

By  Isaac  Pitman. 

(1837). 

SHORT-HAND,* 

FOUNDED    ON 

"WALKER'S    PRINCIPLES    OF    ENGLISH 
PRONUNCIATION." 


INTRODUCTION. 

{.  That  Short-hand  is  an  invaluable  acquirement,  every  one 
practically  possessed  of  it  is  convinced  ;  and  without  making  one's 
iclf  liable  to  the  charge  of  arrogancy,  it  may  be  asserted,  that 
the  person  who  makes  a  regular  use  of  it,  is  raised  almost  as 
high  above  the  individual  who  knows  only  long-hand,  as  the 
man  of  science  with  the  powers  of  steam  at  his  beck,  is  above  the 
common  labourer.  In  this  "  Introduction  "  we  shall  speak  of 
the  art  apart  from  any  particular  system  ;  we  shall  show  in  its 
proper  place  the  excellency  of  this  system  with  regard  to  writing 
by  sound,  and  how  former  Stenographers  have  failed  here  ;  also, 
that  though  it  is  capable  of  expressing  by  a  single  mark  every 
sound  in  the  language,  pure  or  mixed,  it  is  at  the  same  time 
the  plainest  practical  plan  of  putting  pen  to  paper  for  the  production 
of  peerless  poems  or  profound  and  powerful  prose  for  the  press  or 
for  private  pursuits,  ever  published.  As  some  of  our  readers  will 
not  go  beyond  the  "  Introduction,"  we  are  anxious  to  set  before 
them '  at  once  the  beauty  and  simplicity  of  the  system  here 
recommended  to  their  notice.  In  plate  2,  at  the  right  hand 
corner,  are  some  Short-hand  "  Examples  ;  "  they  will  find  the 
above  alliterative  sentence  written  in  the  first  three  lines,  from 

1  a  to  3  g. 

2.  The  thousand  advantages  accompanying  the  practice  of  this 
art,  and  the  power  of  usefulness  which  it  gives,  it  is  impossible 
to  enumerate  here.  Two  or  three  only  shall  be  specified.  First. 
In  literature  you  may  make  extracts  at  little  expense  of  time  and 
paper,  from  books  which  cannot  be  obtained,  either  because  of 

*  Facsimiles  of  the  plates  which  accompanied  this  work  are  given  between 
pp.  34  and  35  ante,  and  a  facsimile  of  the  cover  faces  p.  40. 

333 


334  APPENDIX   I 

their  high  price  or  scarcity.  Second.  Every  composer  finds 
that  frequently  his  thoughts  outstrip  his  pen,  and  many  embryo 
ideas  perish  as  soon  as  they  are  conceived,  there  being  no  means 
for  their  delivery  according  to  our  present  circuitous  mode  of 
writing.  Here  Short-hand  steps  in,  and  adds  a  sevenfold  celerity 
to  writing,  enabling  it  to  keep  pace  with  invention,  and  by  its 
reflex  power  quickens  the  conception  and  delivery  of  future 
thoughts.  Third.  It  is  a  short  way  of  keeping  copies  of  letters 
and  memoranda  of  all  important  events.  You  want  to  write  to 
your  friend — and  you  have  enough  on  the  tip  of  your  tongue  just 
now  to  fill  a  sheet.  Get  your  letter-book,  and  make  your  thoughts 
appear  in  dots  and  strokes  ;  while  doing  it  you  will  be  thankful 
that  you  can  save  all  that  which,  without  the  assistance  of 
Short-hand,  would  evaporate  ;  and  you  will  need  no  other  proof 
of  the  last-named  advantage.  At  your  leisure  transcribe  it  in 
long-hand,  and  post  it.  This  is  the  writer's  constant  practice. 
To  the  clergy,  to  barristers,  and  all  who  attend  courts  of  law,  to 
journalists  and  travellers,  the  science  is  invaluable  ;  and  when 
fairly  written,  it  is  more  easily  read  than  long-hand.  The 
fourth  advantage  is  so  well  known  and  appreciated,  that  it  shall 
be  merely  named — taking  down  lectures,  speeches,  and  sermons, 
either  in  full,  or  according  to  their  heads  and  divisions.  Speaking 
in  a  general  way,  without  Stenography,  there  would  be  no 
reporters — without  reporters,  no  newspapers — without  news- 
papers, no  readers — and  without  readers,  England  would  be 
thrown  back  two  or  three  centuries  in  the  march  of  civilisation. 
Fifth.  By  the  practice  of  Short-hand  there  is  a  great  saving  of 
time.  A  Stenographer  can  accomplish  in  eight  or  ten  minutes, 
(according  to  his  proficiency,)  what  would  occupy  him  an  hour 
if  he  were  ignorant  of  it.  The  amazing  increase  of  power,  and  the 
additional  means  of  doing  good,  which  may  be  calculated  upon, 
under  this  head,  are  incredible.  Take  a  very  common  case. 
Suppose  a  man,  who,  in  addition  to  his  daily  avocation,  employs 
an  hour  a  day  in  composing  books  for  the  instruction  and  benefit 
of  mankind  ;  with  Short-hand  he  is  able  to  write  six  times  as 
much  as  by  common  hand  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  his 
inventive  powers  will  keep  pace  with  his  pen.  He  need  not 
transcribe  it  himself,  this  may  be  done  by  a  school-boy.  Esti- 
mating then  that  he  spends  fifty  years  of  his  "  threescore  years 
and  ten  "  in  this  work  (which  it  is  very  likely  will  be  productive 
of  more  good  to  the  community  than  his  manual  labour  during  the 
remaining  part  of  the  day)  he  accomplishes  in  his  life  the  work 
of  300  year3  !  Rea(Jer_  „  Persevere... 


STENOGRAPHY. 

3.  The  name  of  this  science  is  derived  from  two  Greek  words, 
stenos,  short ;   and  graphe,  a  writing.     Common  writing  enables 


APPENDIX   I  335 

us  to  make  our  thoughts  appear  on  paper  ;  Stenography  or 
Short-hand  does  the  same,  with  one  seventh  of  the  time  and 
trouble  ;  and,  according  to  this  system,  with  seventy  times  seven 
as  much  consistency. 

The    strange    title    prefixed    to    this    system,    "  Stenographic 
Sound-hand,"  may  perhaps  require  a  little  explanation.     It  is  a  - 
system  of  Short-hand,  shorter  than  any  practical  system  yet  published  /  I 
and  the  words  are  written  exactly  as  they  are  pronounced.     Systems  ' 
of  short-hand  that  depend  for  their  existence  upon  staves  like 
music,  or  even  on  a  single  line,  by  which  the  letters  have  a  three- 
fold power  of  expressing  different  words  above,  on,  or  below  the 
line,  seeing  that  short-hand  is  generally  written  without  lines, 
and  without  the  possibility  of  getting  any,   such  systems  are 
certainly  practicable,  but  they  are  not  practical ;   and  this  is  the 
highest  censure  that  can  be  passed  upon  them.     Systems  contain- 
ing letters  of  different  sizes,  or  the  same  size  more  or  less  curved, 
are  equally  objectionable. 

4.  Every  language  is  composed  of  two  kinds  of  sounds.  The 
first  class  is  formed  simply  by  opening  the  mouth  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  and  making  the  voice  to  issue.  These  are  called 
vowels,  or  vocal  sounds,  as  e,  o.  Sometimes  two  of  them  coalesce, 
as  e,  oo,  forming  u,  or  au,  e,  in  boy.  These  are  called  diphthongs, 
or  two  sounds.  Those  of  the  second  class  cannot  be  formed  unless 
a  vowel  be  joined  to  them.  Their  pronunciation  consists  in 
pressing  together  different  parts  of  the  mouth,  such  as  the  lips,  the 
teeth,  the  tongue,  the  palate,  etc.,  and  making  a  vowel  sound 
either  before  or  after  the  concussion  of  the  organs,  as  b,  which 
is  made  by  a  pressure  of  the  lips,  and  impelling  the  breath  against 
them  ;  still  there  is  no  sound  till  the  vowel  e  is  heard.  P  is 
produced  in  the  same  way,  by  a  brisker  appulse  of  the  organs. 
In  sounding  m  the  vowel  is  heard  first,  then  the  lips  close  as 
for  b,  and  the  sound  is  continued  through  the  nose.  These 
letters  are  called  consonants,  that  is,  letters  sounding  with  others. 

It  is  neither  necessary  nor  possible  here  to  enter  into  an  ex- 
amination of  all  the  letters,  as  to  their  names  and  manner  of 
formation  ;  this  is  already  well  done  in  the  work  mentioned  at 
the  head  of  these  remarks  ;  our  object  is  merely  to  put  them  down 
on  paper,  in  the  simplest  and  most  expeditious  form  possible. 

5.  Two  of  the  consonants,  called  liquids  or  melting  letters, 
namely,  /  and  r,  possess  the  peculiar  privilege  of  coalescing  with 
the  others  without  the  intervention  of  a  vowel  :  so  that  the  two 
are  pronounced  as  one.  Example  :  the  word  bless  is  pronounced 
by  closing  the  lips  and  forcing  the  breath  against  them  for  b  ; 
then  placing  the  tip  of  the  tongue  to  the  gums  of  the  upper  teeth 
for  /  ;  and  causing  both  to  be  enunciated  in  the  following  vowel,  e, 
sounded  as  a.  All  this  is  done  as  quickly,  and  with  as  little  effort 
as  if  it  were  only  a  single  letter  ;  s  closes  the  sound,  and  completes 
the  word.     L  unites  with  five  letters  in  this  manner,  and  r  with 


336  APPENDIX   I 

nine,  and  there  are  thousands  of  words  in  which  these  combinations 
occur.     There  are  also  a  few  others  which  may  be  seen  in  Plate  1. 

6.  To  every  utterance  of  the  voice  forming  a  vowel  or  diph- 
thong, and  every  consonant,  single  or  double,  we  have  here  given 
a  simple  mark.  The  vowel  and  diphthongal  sounds  are  written 
according  to  the  order  of  nature,  beginning  with  the  simplest, 
requiring  the  least  opening  of  the  mouth,  e  (heard  in  see).  A 
wider  opening  makes  a  (say) .  The  next  sound  in  order  is  a  (mar) 
[Note  a.]  By  expanding  the  organs  a  little  more  the  broad 
German  a  (all)  is  produced.  This  sound  is  expressed  by  ait. 
Contracting  the  sides  of  the  mouth  a  little,  o  (no)  is  formed,  and 
by  bringing  the  organs  into  a  round  shape,  we  have  oo  (do,  too). 
These  six  vocal  sounds  have  corresponding  short  ones.  The 
diphthongs  are  i,  u,  oi,  and  ou,  which  being  mixed  sounds  cannot 
be  shortened.  That  the  short  sounds  of  i  and  u  are  miscalled  so 
will  appear  by  and  by.  /  is  composed  of  a  e,  u  is  e  oo,  oi  is  au  e, 
and  ou  is  au  oo,  pronounced  as  quickly  as  possible.  What  are 
commonly  called  diphthongs  and  triphthongs,  as  oa  in  boat,  eau 
in  beauty,  are  so  only  to  the  eye. 

7.  The  Short-hand  marks  for  these  letters,  are  as  simple  and 
as  orderly  placed  as  their  sounds.  The  first  three  are  made  by 
a  dot,  placed  at  the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end  of  the 
consonant  with  which  it  is  associated.  The  next  three,  which 
are  of  a  broader  sound,  have  the  dot  made  broad,  that  is,  a  short 
stroke.  Three  of  the  diphthongs  have  a  curve,  or  half  of  a  small 
circle,  and  the  other  a  small  angle.  The  "  wheel-about  "  shape 
of  these  four  corresponds  very  well  to  their  "  turn-about  "  sound  ; 
and  if  the  language  should  ever  become  receptive  of  two  more 
such,  we  have  angular  situations  for  them.  These  marks  must 
point  in  that  direction  which  renders  them  most  conspicuous. 
A  long  vowel  is  made  with  a  heavy  dot  or  stroke,  and  a  short 
vowel  by  a  light  one.  With  respect  to  situation,  the  places  are 
counted  downwards  with  perpendicular  and  leaning  down  strokes  ; 
from  left  to  right  with  horizontal  letters  ;  and  upwards  with  h, 
I,  r,  and  y.  Though  s  may  be  made  up  or  down,  as  expedition  or 
beauty  of  conjunction  may  dictate,  let  the  vowels'  places  be  always 
counted  downwards  when  it  stands  without  another  consonant 
in  a  word.     In  other  situations  it  must  follow  the  general  rule. 

8.  The  correct  sound  of  these  six  long  vowels,  six  short  ones, 
and  four  diphthongs,  which  are  all  that  are  to  be  found  in  the 
language,  will  be  understood  from  these  words,  which  are  written 
in  the  examples,  plate  2,  (3h..4  i).  Tea  tin,  pay  pet,  father  fat, 
daw  dot,  show  shut,  coo  could,  fine,  duke,  boy,  vow.  All  these 
sounds  may  be  discovered  in  the  following  sentence  :  "  Fear 
thou  the  Lord  in  thy  youth,  hate  and  avoid  evil,  love  and  pursue 
good,  and  so  walk  in  the  paths  of  life."  This  is  pronounced, 
and  according  to  our  system  would  be  written  in  full,  thus  : 
Fer  thou  THa  Laurd  en  thi  yodth,  hat  and  avoid  Svl  lov  and  porsu 


APPENDIX   I  337 

good  and  so  wauk  en  tha  paTHz  auv  lif  (5  a.. 7  C.).  [b].  There 
are  very  few  words  in  our  language  whose  sound  is  composed 
of  the  sound  of  the  letters  ;  and  to  surmount  the  difficulty  of 
acquiring  a  proper  pronunciation  is  the  most  arduous  task  in 
ascending  the  hill  of  knowledge,  especially  when  we  remember 
that  it  must  be  done  in  youth.  Stenographers  have  endeavoured 
to  remedy  this  evil,  and  have  directed  their  pupils  to  spell  as 
they  pronounce.  This  has  been  attended  to  generally,  with 
respect  to  the  consonants,  but  they  have  made  no  distinction 
between  the  vowel  in  pate  &•  pat,  hall  &  hat,  seat  &  set,  pine  &>  pin, 
bony  &  bonny,  tune  6-  tun  [c].  In  these  pairs,  besides  the  differ- 
ence in  the  length  of  the  vowels,  the  sound  of  the  long  one  is  in 
no  case  the  sound  of  the  short  one.  By  sound  hand,  then, 
we  mean  where  every  vocal  utterance  in  the  language  has  its  mark, 
which  mark  is  never  used  to  express  any  other  sound.  It  is  hoped 
that  now  the  reader  will  understand  our  meaning  in  saying,  that 
in  this  Stenographic  Card  the  English  language  is  written  as 
spoken,  a  custom  professed,  as  we  have  observed,  by  all  short- 
hand-writers, but  practised  hitherto  by  none.  To  produce  only 
one  instance  of  their  inconsistency,  they  dispense  with  w^yas 
vowels,  and  yet  write  them  for  au  in  saw,  oi  in  boy,  &c.  In  this 
system  these  two  letters  must  never  be  used  except  when  they 
begin  a  syllable.  Some  words,  former  stenographers  have  been 
utterly  unable  to  write  Ex.  :  anguish  would  be  transformed  into 
an-gish,  and  it  might  be  read  an-jish  in  those  authors  who  do  not 
thicken  g  for  ;' ;  to  say  nothing  at  present  of  the  impropriety  of 
considering  these  letters  relatives.  The  word  is  written  in  this 
system  by  three  simple  marks,  ang-gwish,  as  it  is  pronounced,  (7  f). 
This  observation,  however,  does  not  properly  belong  to  this 
paragraph. 

9.  We  come  now  to  consider  the  consonants.  It  will  be  seen 
in  our  alphabet  that  the  sharp  and  flat  letters  /  v,  k  ga,  p  b,  s  z, 
t  d,  ch  j,  sh  zh,  6-  th  th,  are  made  with  one  mark  for  each  pair, 
the  only  difference  between  them  is,  that  in  pronouncing  the  last 
of  each  pair  there  is  a  greater  pressure  of  the  enunciative  organs 
than  in  sounding  the  first.  This  is  very  properly  denoted  on 
paper  by  a  pressure  of  the  pen.  That  the  same  organs,  and  in 
the  same  position,  are  required  for  their  utterance,  needs  no 
other  proof  than  the  pronunciation  of  the  following  words  : 

fowl  vowel  ba/A  baTHe 

cap  (kap)  gap  wafer  waver 

pear  bear  class  glass 

dose  doze  plush  blush 

tear  dear  muscle  muzzle 

cheer  jeer  try  dry 

rash  rasure  (pronounced  razhur)  chump  jump 

mesh  measure  (pronounced  mezhur)  ether  eiTHer 

32 — (3284) 


338  APPENDIX   I 

It  has  been  objected  that  it  is  difficult  to  make  the  heavy 
strokes  for  the  flat  letters.  This  is  admitted  when  they  are 
written  with  a  black-lead  pencil ;  and  as  to  b  and  ga,  with  their 
compounds,  when  written  with  a  pen.  (The  pupil  must  use  the 
latter.)  [Messrs.  Mordan  &  Co.  will  confer  a  favour  on  the  public 
by  producing  an  ever-flowing  pen,  similar  to  their  ever -pointed 
pencils.']  But  even  if  every  flat  letter  were  made  with  a  light 
stroke,  the  inconvenience  in  reading  would  be  very  trifling. 
Ex.  including  them  all,  "  Get  wisdom,  knowledge,  and  virtue  ;  and 
prize  them  as  the  greatest  treasure. ' '  If  this  sentence  were  written 
under  circumstances  which  prevented  the  making  of  heavy 
strokes,  (as  black  lead  pencil  on  ivory,)  we  should  read  it  thus, 
"  Puy  wistom,  knowlech  ant  firtue,  and  price  them  as  the  kreatest 
treshur."  No  one  could  mistake  the  meaning  of  one  word  here. 
Stenographers  have  always  classed  two  of  these  flat  letters,  v  and  *, 
under  the  same  marks  as  their  respective  sharps.  They  have 
taken  no  notice  of  two  others,  flat,  sh,  (zha)  and  th  (dha  pronounced 
like  they) ,  writing  the  last  syllable  of  mission  (mishun) ,  and  vision 
(vizhun),  alike  ;  and  also  using  the  same  marks  for  breath  and 
breaTue  ;  and  they  have  misclassed  the  letters  of  two  other 
pairs,  namely,  ga  (get)  with  j  (jet),  and  k  (keen),  with  q  (queen). 
Certainly  it  is  better  to  have  a  choice  band  of  eight  men,  with 
regular  pairs  of  arms,  &c.  right  and  left,  than  only  six,  two  of 
whom  have  only  one  arm,  one  leg,  &c,  and  two  more  are  monsters 
with  a  leg  sticking  out  at  the  shoulder,  and  an  arm  protruding 
from  the  thigh  ! 

10.  No  apology  can  be  necessary  for  the  use  of  double  letters, 
(see  the  latter  part  of  Plate  1).  In  words  which  require  more 
than  one  motion  of  the  pen,  they  are  used  more  frequently  than 
the  single  letters  of  which  they  are  composed.  We  have  taken 
all  that  occur  without  a  vowel  between  them,  and  which  are 
consequently  pronounced  with  one  effort  of  the  organs.  Such 
combinable  consonants  have  as  good  a  claim  to  a  place  in  the 
alphabet  as  q  6-  x.  The  small  vowels  (♦  &  e)  placed  among  them, 
[a  &  e)  with  the  single  aspirated  dentals,  are  to  assist  in  pro- 
nouncing each  as  one  syllable.  In  placing  q  (kw)  and  x  (ks)  in 
this  class,  which  is  their  proper  place,  it  was  necessary  to  alter  the 
sound  of  the  former  a  little,  because  of  its  flat  gwe.  It  has  now 
the  same  sound  as  when  pronounced  in  a  word  ;  this  should  be 
the  case  with  every  letter.  Whenever  the  short-hand  letter  g  is 
mentioned,  call  it  ga  that  it  may  answer  to  k.  Whenever  h  is 
pronounced,  call  it  he,  like  the  personal  pronoun.  Perhaps  some 
of  our  readers  who  are  not  accustomed  to  aspirate  this  letter 
in  their  reading  and  conversation,  will  pronounce  it  like  the  vowel 
e.  Such  persons  must  seek  oral  instruction  on  this  point.  The 
name  aitch  for  a  forcible  aspiration  is  only  one  of  many  misnomers 
in  the  English  alphabet.  The  rectification  of  the  others,  however, 
is  left  for  another  time.     Without  this  alteration  we  should  call 


APPENDIX   I  339 

the  first  consonant  in  cheer  by  the  same  name  as  the  first  in 
hear  f 

11.  Directions.  Write  every  word  according  to  its  true 
pronunciation,  and  follow  "  Walker  "  till  you  have  a  better 
guide  [d] .  Be  exact  in  the  shape  of  the  letters  ;  f  ox  p  not  leaning 
sufficiently  would  be  t.  To  assist  in  acquiring  their  formation, 
construct  a  diagram  like  the  one  in  Plate  2,  several  times,  till 
you  have  a  tolerably  good  circle,  by  making  the  box  of  the  wheel 
first,  then  the  spokes,  next  the  circles,  inner  and  outer.  Make  it 
without  ruler  or  compasses.  With  the  exception  of  q  and  x,  all 
the  letters  which  succeed  each  other  in  the  language,  can  be 
joined  by  their  respective  shorthand  marks,  without  taking  off 
the  pen.  Conjoin  the  whole  thus  :  bb,  bd,  bf,  &c.  to  bzhr  (7  g..i.). 
Then  db,  dd,  df,  &c.  (8  a..c).  The  loop  s  is  joined  in  this  manner, 
sp,  st,  sf,  sk,  sr,  sm,  (8  d..i.).  The  pupil  may  also  run  through 
the  changes  with  the  stroke  s,  making  it  up  or  down,  according 
to  convenience,  sb,  sd,  sf,  sg,  (9  a..d.).  Further  directions  concern- 
ing this  letter  will  be  given  n.  12.  The  hooks  of  a  few  of  the 
double  letters  must,  in  joining,  be  made  less  bent ;  the  worst 
examples  are  rbl,  pkr,  (9  e.  f.).  Repeat  a  letter  thus  :  ff,  mm, 
prpr.  (9  g..i.).  Many  of  the  combinations  thus  obtained  cannot 
be  pronounced,  but  it  will  be  well  to  do  the  whole  for  the  sake 
of  exercise,  and  to  imprint  the  forms  of  the  letters  upon  the 
pupil's  mind.  When  the  conjunction  of  all  the  consonants  is 
thus  accomplished,  begin  to  write  sentences  ;  and  here  particular 
care  must  be  taken  in  ascertaining  the  exact  sound  of  every  word . 
The  greatest  difficulty  will  be  to  discover  the  vowel  sounds,  so 
as  to  write  them  according  to  the  natural  order  in  which  they  are 
placed  in  this  system.  The  difficulty  will  arise  from  this  circum- 
stance. By  education  and  custom  we  are  taught  to  call  the  short 
sound  of  a  short  e  or  short  a  ;  thus  :  mate  met,  hate  hat,  and  so 
with  every  other  vowel,  the  short  sound  of  it  is  found  under  another 
letter,  Ex.  seen  sin,  boat  but,  raw  rot,  pool  pull.  The  reader  will  be 
assisted  here  if  he  remember  to  write  the  second  vowel  in  this 
list  for  the  first ;    it  is  Walker's  notation  : 

i 

u 


00 

oi 

ou 


After  a  time  it  will  be  found  that  it  is  much  easier  to  write  by 
sound  in  every  case,  than  according  to  what  is  called  by  some 
misnomer,   orthography.     Persons  who  have  never  learned  any 


1 
Fate 

a 

i 
pine 

i 

i 
tube 

2 

2 

2 

far 

a 

pin 

e 

tub 

3 

i 

3 

fall 

aii 

no 

6 

bull 

4 

a 

32 

fat 

a 

move 

66 

oil 

i 

3 

3  3 

me 

e 

nor 

aii[e] 

pound 

2 

4 

met 

a 

not 

aii 

340  APPENDIX   I 

system  of  short  hand,  and  are  inclined  to  make  an  attempt  at 
this,  which  is  strongly  recommended  to  them,  should  at  first 
write  every  word  in  full,  that  is,  as  it  is  pronounced  in  good 
society.  An  example  both  of  spelling  and  writing  is  given  in  n.  8. 
To  adduce  another  instance,  the  Great  Precept  might  be  written 
by  a  beginner  thus  : .  "  Thou  shalt  16 v  THa  Laiird  THi  Gaud  wgth 
aul  THi  hart  and  THi  nabor  az  THisalf."  After  a  little  practice, 
many  of  the  vowels  may  be  omitted  ;  and  every  letter  may  repre- 
sent two  or  three  of  the  commonest  words,  and  sometimes  a  prefix, 
or  an  affix.  To  the  double  letters  only  one  word  is  appropriated, 
(see  Plate  1.).  The  same  example  written  by  this  rule  would 
be  reduced  from  49  marks  to  22. 

12.  Short-hand  Rules.  When  a  letter  has  two  forms,  which 
is  the  case  with  I,  r,  s,  &  ng,  the  first  is  for  joining,  and  the  other 
is  to  be  used  when  such  a  letter  stands  alone  for  an  alphabetical 
word,  or  without  another  consonant  in  the  word  ;  Ex.  of  their 
use  in  the  three  cases  ;  least,  all,  oil ;  right,  our,  raw  ;  case,  us, 
see  ;  among,  (ng  is  not  used  for  an  alphabetical  word,  but  as  a 
representative  for  into  and  unto)  owing.  (10  a..  11  b.)  In  these 
circumstances  the  second  mark  must  be  used.  Whenever  / 
occurs  with  no  other  consonant  following  but  /,  r,  and  s.  Ex. 
loll,  liar,  lose,  also,  toiler,  lolls,  laurel,  liars,  loser.  R  with  only 
/,  r,  s,  and  ng.  Ex.  real,  error,  rose,  ring,  roller,  rails,  roaring. 
S  when  repeated,  when  it  is  the  only  consonant  in  a  syllable, 
and  when  followed  by  /  or  ng  only.  Ex.  assize,  mercy,  ascend, 
soul,  sing.  Also  use  the  stroke  s  whenever  the  other  would  cause 
ambiguity  [f ]  or  hinder  the  freedom  of  the  writing  ;  in  all  other 
cases  the  loop  s  will  be  found  exceedingly  convenient.  Ng  must 
be  made  with  the  second  mark  when  preceded  by  p,  sp,  and  y 
only  ;  and  when  it  does  not  end  a  word.  Ex.  paying,  sapping, 
young,  anguish,  ringlet,  beings,  flinging.  The  pupil  is  requested 
to  write  all  these  words  according  to  the  rule.  The  small  ng 
may  be  turned  in  any  direction,  it  is  merely  a  hook  at  the  end 
of  the  preceding  letter.  The  large  ng  is  a  thick  n,  but  as  this  letter 
is  never  made  heavy  in  a  word  for  any  other  purpose,  there  can 
be  no  mistake  here.  Spr,  sir,  and  skr,  may  be  made  with  one 
stroke,  thus:  sprain,  strong,  screw  (11  c.e.).  This  will  not 
interfere  with  sp,  st,  and  sk,  because  when  these  letters  begin  a 
word,  the  loop  is  placed  on  the  other  side.  (See  n.  1 1 .).  5  before 
and  w,  with  which  it  will  combine,  may  be  made  with  the 
oop  or  stroke.  The  former  plan  is  the  best.  Ex.  splinter,  swing, 
1 1  f. .12  a.) .  It  may  also  be  written  with  the  loop  s,  and  separate 
Jetters  for  p  and  /.  When  s  comes  before  a  double  letter  in  the 
middle  of  a  word,  the  double  letter  must  generally  be  divided,  or 
the  long  s  made.  The  first  is  the  preferable  plan.  Ex.  principle, 
nstruct,  (12  b..f.).  Possible,  toaster,  whisper,  Sec.  may  be  written 
with  both  the  loop  and  double  letter,  (12  g..i.)  X  is  nothing 
more  than  a  stroke  across  the  letter  preceding  or  following.     Ex. 


Appendix  I  341 

maxim,  sticks,  (13a.  b.)  Q  is  a  stroke  adjoined  to  the  letter 
preceding  or  following.  Ex.  Queen,  request.  (13  c.  d.)  Both 
letters  should  be  made  with  a  heavy  mark  when  they  have 
the  flat  sound.  Ex.  exist  (egzist),  languish,  (13  e.  f.)  Let 
not  /  run  into  m.  Ex.  lame,  (13  g..i.)  Nor  m  into  shr,  ch 
into  n,  th  into  ch.  Write  beyond  thus  :  (14  a.)  Y,  which  is  of 
difficult  conjunction,  seldom  occurs  except  when  beginning  a 
word.  When  several  down-stroke  characters  succeed  each 
other,  as  in  statistics,  (14  b.)  take  off  the  pen  and  begin  again. 
The  beauty  and  lineality  of  the  writing  is  thus  preserved.  This 
trifling  inconvenience  of  stopping,  in  about  one  word  in  a  hundred, 
which  besets  every  system  that  has  been,  or  can  be  invented, 
as  it  cannot  be  cured  must  be  endured.  Incipient  vowels  must 
commonly  be  written.  Ex.  open,  alter,  altitude,  (14  c.e.)  Without 
the  first  vowel  these  words  might  be  read,  pen,  letter,  latitude. 
A  vowel  between  two  consonants  may  be  made  either  after  the 
first  or  before  the  last.  Ex.  mood,  tune,  (14  f..i.)  The  rule  is  this  : 
for  «,  oo,  and  oi,  place  the  mark  before  the  last,  and  put  the  other 
vowels  generally  after  the  first  mark.  When  a  long  vowel  comes 
between  the  double  letters,  as  o  between  b  and  /  in  bolster, 
between  p  and  r  in  pardon,  always  write  the  single  letters.  When 
double  letters  occur,  with  a  short  vowel  between  them  similar 
in  sound  to  the  names  of  the  letters  in  the  alphabet,  they  may 
be  used  without  scruple,  as  per  in  permit,  pur  in  pursuit,  ter  in 
clatter,  cal  in  methodical.  Prefixes  and  affixes  must  not  be  joined 
to  the  other  part  of  the  word.  Ex.  transact,  wisdom,  (15  a.  b.) 
Any  alphabetical  word  or  representative  may  be  used  for  this 
purpose.  Ex.  childhood,  without,  forward,  (15  c.e.)  Prefixes  and 
affixes  need  never  be  used  except  there  is  an  advantage  gained  by 
it,  either  as  to  beauty  or  brevity.  Ex.  the  words  distemper, 
comprehend,  satisfaction,  and  indecision,  should  be  written  with 
them  ;  and  discover,  common,  motion,  decision,  without  them. 
Make  a  plural  affix  by  adding  the  loop  s.  Ex.  professions,  con- 
tents, (15  f.  g.)  A  prefix  or  an  affix  may  be  made  in  the  middle 
of  a  word.  Ex.  incomplete,  missionaries,  (15  h.  i.)  Alphabetical 
words,  when  nouns,  may  express  the  plural  number,  and  when 
verbs,  the  third  person  singular  by  adding  the  loop  s  only.  Ex. 
thoughts,  comes,  (16  a.  b.)  The  second  person  singular  of  the 
verb  may  be  written  as  the  first,  without  any  danger  of  mistake. 
Ex.  Thou  may  est,  (16  c.) 

Write  figures  as  usual ;  high  numbers  may  be  abbreviated 
thus  :  300—60,000—300,000,  (16  d..f.)  Ordinal  numbers,  with 
a  dot  above  the  figure,  Ex.  second,  third,  (16  g.  h.)  Adverbial 
numbers,  with  a  dot  under,  Ex.  fourthly,  (16  i.)  ■  Numerals  may 
occasionally  be  written  as  words,  because  they  have  a  plural 
number,  and  the  word  one  has  a  possessive  case  ;  it  should  be 
written  won.  Put  proper  names  in  long-hand.  Underline 
important  words  with  a  zig-zag  line.     Important  sentences  may 


342  APPENDIX   I 

have  a  straight  line.  See  examples  in  the  first  "  Rule  of  Life," 
n.  13.  Stops  as  usual,  except  the  period.  Ex.  comma,  semicolon, 
colon,  period,  exclamation,  interrogation,  irony  [g]  parentheses, 
brackets,  hyphen,  quotation  marks,  (17  a..h.]  .  Contractions  of 
long  words  may  be  made  by  adjoining  one  letter  to  another,  or 
by  making  a  comma  under.  Ex.  notwithstanding,  nevertheless, 
indispensable,  incomprehensible,  satisfactorily,  (17  i..l8  d.) 
According  to  one  of  our  rules,  this  first  plan  would  frequently 
make  q,  but  as  this  letter  never  ends  a  word,  there  is  no  danger 
of  ambiguity  here.  Another  method  of  saving  time  is  to  join  little 
words  together.  Ex.  as  it  is  said,  there  are,  (18  e.  f.)  Theological, 
parliamentary,  and  law  phrases,  may  be  written  by  the  initial 
letters  of  the  words  joined  to  each  other.  Ex.  kingdom  of  heaven, 
His  Majesty's  ministers,  practice  of  the  court,  (18  g..i.)  These  aids 
will  enable  a  writer  to  follow  the  swiftest  speaker  in  the  world 
that  is  worth  following.  Should  other  methods  of  abbreviation 
be  required  by  a  slow  writer,  they  may  be  found  in  short-hand 
treatises.  It  must  be  remembered  that  contractions  are  a  license 
granted  to  reporters  only.  To  conclude  these  rules  (which  cannot 
be  lengthened  without  producing  tedium,  nor  abbreviated  without 
causing  obscurity),  give  the  letters  their  full  shape,  and  in  com- 
mencing, make  them  a  quarter  or  even  half  an  inch  in  length  ; 
the  size  may  be  reduced  gradually  to  one-eighth  or  less,  and  if 
they  be  properly  formed,  and  sufficient  vowels  inserted  to  give  the 
sound,  it  is  impossible  that  mistakes  can  arise.  Let  the  reader 
practise  the  system,  and  he  will  find  all  difficulties  vanish  as  he 
proceeds  ;  and  with  reference  to  one  of  the  "  babbling  speeches 
of  this  babbling  earth  " — the  English,  which  is  not  the  most 
harmonious  or  consistent — he  will  be  able  to  sing  as  he  proceeds, 

"  For  every  evil  under  the  sun 
There  is  a  remedy,  or  there's  none  ; 
If  there  is  one,  try  to  find  it, 
If  there's  not  one,  never  mind  it." 

13.  The  Lord's  Prayer.  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven, 
hallowed  be  thy  name  :  thy  kingdom  come  :  thy  will  be  done 
in  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven  :  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  : 
and  forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our  debtors  :  and  lead 
us  ;  [h]  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil  :  for  thine 
is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever.  Amen. 
Mat.  vi.  9-13. 

Psalm  100.  1.  Make  a  joyful  noise  unto  the  Lord,  all  ye 
lands.  2.  Serve  the  Lord  with  gladness ;  come  before  his 
presence  with  singing.  3.  Know  ye  that  the  Lord  he  is  God  : 
it  is  be  that  hath  made  us,  and  not  we  ourselves  :  we  are  his 
people,  and  the  sheep  of  his  pasture.  4.  Enter  into  his  gates 
with  thanksgiving,  and  into  his  courts  with  praise  ;  be  thankful 
unto  him,  and  bless  his  name.  5.  For  the  Lord  is  good,  his 
mercy  is  everlasting  ;    and  his  truth  endureth  to  all  generations. 


APPENDIX   I  343 

Rules  of  Life.  First.  To  read  often,  and  to  meditate  well 
on  the  Word  of  God.  Second.  To  be  always  content  and 
resigned  under  the  dispensations  of  Providence.  Third.  Always 
to  observe  a  propriety  of  behaviour,  and  to  preserve  the  conscience 
clear  and  void  of  offence.  Fourth.  To  obey  that  which  is 
ordained  ;  to  be  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  our 
employment ;  and  to  do  everything  in  our  power  to  make  our- 
selves as  universally  useful  as  possible.  Always  to  remember 
"  The  Lord  will  provide." 

14.  These  three  examples  are  written  according  to  this  system 
in  the  second  plate.  Compare  them  word  by  word  with  the  short- 
hand copy.  This  will  explain  much  more  than  several  pages  of 
letter-press.  It  proves  the  superiority  of  this  system,  that  these 
specimens  are  written  with  377  motions  of  the  pen  ;  while  Byrom's 
takes  555,  Taylor's  458,  and  Lewis's  508  [i.]  Add  to  this,  that 
by  neither  of  these  authors,  nor  by  any  other,  can  the  proper 
sound  of  the  words  be  written  ;  and  that  here  there  are  no 
arbitrary  marks  either  used  or  needed  ;  but  every  word  is  written 
exactly  as  it  is  pronounced,  with  the  common  allowance  of  leaving 
out  some  vowels,  and  making  every  letter  represent  one,  two,  or 
three  words.  The  average  of  the  whole  alphabet  is  less  than  two 
to  a  letter.  Stenographers  have  hitherto  split  their  science 
between  a  correct  pronunciation  of  the  language,  indicated  by 
simple  and  infallible  marks  ;  and  the  anomalies  of  long-hand,  in 
which  "  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  letters  affords  no  clue  to  the 
sound  of  the  word."  To  attain  proficiency  in  writing  this,  or 
any  other  system,  the  pupil  must  practise  half  an  hour,  and,  if 
possible,  an  hour  a  day  ;  and  read  over  twice  everything  he  writes. 
His  constant  motto  must  be,  "  persevere."  He  should  keep  out 
the  elbow,  and  for  short-hand,  use  short  lines.  In  this  system, 
when  written  by  a  reporter,  there  will  be  about  as  many  strokes  as 
syllables  ;  consequently  the  pen  can  easily  keep  pace  with  the 
tongue  ;  and  if  our  language  were  written  and  printed  by  it,  the 
labour  and  expense  of  education  would  be  reduced  50  or  80  per 
cent.  We  should  then  teach  a  child  to  call  medicine  f  i  z  i  k  (or 
more  properly  /  e  z  I  k),  fizik,  instead  of  pe  p,  aitch  h,  wi  y,  es  s, 
i  for  i,  see  c,  physic  ! 

15.  The  writer  is  preparing  a  "  Manual  of  Stenography," 
including  an  analytical  sketch  of  the  English  language,  and  the 
application  of  it  to  short-hand  characters  ;  also  a  scheme  of  an 
alphabet  according  to  nature  ;  which  shall  be  published  another 
day  if  it  is  worthy  of  publication  ;  to  ascertain  which,  this  card, 
containing  the  principles,  is  thrown  out  as  a  feeler.  The  system 
required  many  schemes,  and  many  experiments  with  the  language, 
before  it  was  brought  to  its  present  state.  Forcible  reasons  could 
be  given  for  the  selection  of  every  mark  to  express  the  sound  to 
which  it  is  appropriated  ;  some  of  them  have  appeared  to  former 
stenographers,  consequently  it  will  be  found  that  the  letters  /, 


344  APPENDIX   I 

m,  n,  r  and  t,  are  the  same  here  as  in  some  other  systems.  Let 
the  attentive  reader  examine  every  letter,  remembering  that  the 
commonest  sounds  must  have  the  simplest  marks  ;  and  that  those 
letters  which  frequently  succeed  each  other,  should  have 
characters  that  run  into  each  other  without  an  angle  ;  and  we 
presume  he  will  discover  that  not  one  of  them  could  be  altered 
to  advantage.  With  reverence  be  it  spoken,  that  the  characters 
appear  to  be  adapted  to  the  sounds,  as  though  the  circle,  mathe- 
matically dissected,  were  contrived  by  the  Great,  the  Wise,  and 
the  Benevolent  Author  of  Nature  to  suit  the  English  language  ; 
a  dot  or  a  stroke  to  a  sound.  The  coincidence  appears  in  its 
most  striking  light,  when  we  consider  that  there  is  not  one  sound 
unexpressed  ;  that  not  another  character  could  be  introduced 
without  causing  confusion  ;  and  that  every  two  or  three  con- 
sonants that  will  coalesce  in  the  beginning  of  a  syllable,  as  pi, 
sm,  str,  &c.  are  made  with  one  stroke. 

16.  The  short-hand  placed  above  the  Diagram,  plate  2,  is, 
"  This  alphabet  contains  sixteen  vowel  sounds,  twenty-five  single 
consonants,  and  twenty-four  double  ones  ;  total  sixty-five  letters, 
including  every  vowel  sound  in  the  language,  and  every  combina- 
tion of  consonants  that  will  commence  a  syllable,  all  drawn  from 
this  Diagram."  The  system  must  stand  upon  its  own  legs  if  it 
stand  at  all  ;  or,  to  change  the  figure,  it  must  roll  upon  its  own 
wheel,  and  if  it  sink  into  oblivion  after  a  reasonable  trial  of  its 
capabilities,  it  will  be  because  it  deserves  no  better  fate.  By 
the  author  it  is  practised  and  taught  daily,  without  any  incon- 
venience arising  from  heavy  letters  ;  and  after  eight  years' 
extensive  use  of  the  best  system  hitherto  published,  Mr.  Taylor's 
(sometimes  miscalled  Harding's,  and  lately  sent  forth  without 
any  reference  to  Mr.  Taylor's  name)  and  an  examination  of  many 
others,  he  hesitates  not  to  say,  it  is  as  good  again  as  that.  This 
observation  might  certainly  be  spared  for  the  sake  of  modesty, 
and  also  with  regard  to  those  readers  who  have  learned  Mr. 
Taylor's  and  will  now  give  this  a  fair  trial  ;  but  we  know  well  that, 
with  many  persons,  stenographic  perseverance  is  a  rare  virtue  ; 
and  the  experiment,  with  its  result,  is  here  mentioned  for  their 
sakes.  Among  the  author's  pupils  are  more  than  twenty  boys 
(in  his  school,)  about  the  age  of  ten  years  ;  and  it  may  confidently 
be  asserted  that  they  could  not  have  learned  so  easily  any  other 
system  extant. 

17.  Never  before  were  forty-nine  consonants  expressed  by 
twenty-five  marks,  and  sixteen  vowels  by  four  marks  ;  all  as 
simple  in  shape  as  a  coach-wheel ;  and  at  the  same  time  as  expres- 
sive of  the  thoughts  and  affections  as  long-hand,  with  a  saving 
of  at  least  five  hours  out  of  six.  And  what  is  of  more  importance, 
the  marks  are  suited  to  the  sounds,  so  that  wherever  a  letter 

IS    RELATED    TO    ANOTHER,    EITHER    BY    ORGANIC    FORMATION,    OR 
BY  BEING  COMBINED  WITH    OTHER  LETTERS,     IT  IS  SIGNIFIED 


APPENDIX   I  345 

BY  ITS  SHAPE.  Still  it  is  not  sent  forth  as  a  perfect  system. 
It  strikes  out  a  new  path,  especially  as  to  the  manner  of  writing 
the  vowels.  It  is  a  wonder  to  the  author  that  it  is  new,  being 
so  very  simple  and  natural.  The  truth  is,  we  are  come  upon  the 
most  unnatural  period  of  the  world's  existence  ;  scarcely  anything 
is  in  the  order  of  nature,  still  less  in  the  order  of  heaven  ;  and 
our  language,  as  though  partaking  of  the  common  declension  (most 
appropriately  termed  "  the  fall,")  exhibits  the  sad  spectacle  of 
having  almost  every  word  pronounced  contrary  to  the  sound  of 
its  letters.  As  any  change  at  the  worst  point  must  necessarily 
be  for  the  better  ;  and  as  the  world  is  now  beginning  to  experience 
a  wondrous  change,  we  have  the  assurance  that  a  bright  period 
is  opening  up  upon  us  ;  order  will  be  restored  ;  and  according 
to  the  sure  declaration  of  HIM  who  maketh  "  all  things  new," 
heaven  will  yet  descend  upon  earth,  and  n  wisdom  and  knowledge 
will  be  the  stability  of  the  times."  The  road  here  struck  out, 
to  assist  in  conducting  to  this  delightful  state,  being  new,  will 
require  travelling  and  repairing  to  constitute  it  a  good  one  ; 
then,  we  doubt  not,  it  will  bear  a  comparison  with  any  of  the 
numerous  paths  leading  to  the  temple  of  wisdom.  Should  it  be 
denied  that  we  have  produced  the  best  system  of  short-hand,  it 
must  be  conceded  that  we  have  produced  the  cheapest. 

18.  In  conclusion.  Convinced  as  the  writer  is  of  the  unspeak- 
able importance  of  the  art  of  writing,  and  more  especially  of  short- 
hand, to  man,  while  an  inhabitant  of  this  material  world  ;  con- 
vinced also  of  the  superior  excellency  of  a  language  written  as 
pronounced,  above  one,  like  the  English,  where  the  sound  of  the 
letters  is  continually  at  war  with  the  sound  of  the  words  ;  keeping 
in  mind  too  the  discoveries,  the  improvements,  and  the  facilities 
of  every  description  that  characterise  this  new  age  ;  he  thinks 
he  is  not  too  sanguine  in  expecting,  that,  ere  long,  short-hand 
will  be  the  common  hand,  in  which  the  imperishable  Word  of  God 
will  exist  no  larger  than  a  watch  []],  and  be  as  constantly  used  for 
the  discovery  and  regulation  of  man's  spiritual  state,  with  reference 
to  eternity,  as  the  pocket  chronometer  is  for  the  discovery  and 
regulation  of  time  with  reference  to  the  present  life. 

POSTSCRIPT . 

We  did  not  intend  to  give  the  translation  of  the  two  brief  short- 
hand sentences  in  Plate  1,  but  to  leave  them  as  an  exercise  of 
the  reader's  sagacity  ;  but  as  there  is  a  superfluous  dot  in  one 
of  the  words,  which  might  cause  a  difficulty  in  reading  it,  it  is 
thought  necessary  to  give  the  long-hand  here.  "  N.B.  Each  letter 
may  represent  the  words,  &c,  placed  to  it."  '*  Pronounce  each 
as  one  syllable." 

•  In  Plate  2,   fourth  line,   third  word,   the  short-hand  letter  / 
should  be  w  (will). 

•  In  '•'  The  Lord's  Prayer,"  haloud  should  be  halod.     This  last 
error  exists  only  in  some  impressions. 


346  APPENDIX   I 

NOTES . 


[a]  To  express  this  sound  of  a,  called  the  middle  or  Italian  a, 
we  adopt  the  Greek  alpha  (a).  The  reader  is  to  pronounce  this 
letter,  then,  wherever  it  occurs,  as  in  far,  father,  which  is  similar 
to  the  cry  of  a  sheep,  baa. 

[b]  Be  careful  to  sound  the  vowels  as  in  the  preceding  classifica- 
tion, n.  6.  According  to  the  usual  practice,  a  long  vowel  has  a  stroke 
over  it,  and  a  short  one  a  curve.  Th  (in  italics),  signifies  the  sharp 
sound,  and  th  (in  capitals),  the  flat  sound.  See  the  reason,  for 
pronouncing  the  article  the  tha,  in  Walker's  dictionary,  under  the 
word. 

[c]  There  is  one  exception  to  this  remark.  Mr.  Towndrow 
who,  it  appears,  is  a  transatlantic  stenographer,  has  separate 
marks  for  the  long  and  short  vowels,  but  in  his  classification  of 
them,  he  has  followed  custom,  as  in  the  above  pairs,  instead  of 
following  nature,  as  is  done  in  this  system.  Mr.  T.'s  theory  of 
short-hand  appears  to  be  little  known  in  England.  After  a 
careful  examination  of  it,  we  are  led  to  say,  that,  on  the  whole, 
it  is  clogged  with  difficulties  which  appear  to  us  insuperable. 

[d]  The  reader  is  earnestly  requested  to  peruse  and  re^eruse 
this  gentleman's  "  Principles  of  English  Pronunciation,"  prefixed 
as  an  Introduction  to  his  admirable  "Pronouncing  Dictionary." 
Should  he  be  unacquainted,  we  mean  practically  unacquainted 
with  this  standard  of  orthoepy,  this  able  exposition  of  the  English 
language,  he  will  read  the  present  attempt  to  express  it  in  short- 
hand without  interest,  and  condemn  it  without  scruple.  From 
such  critics  may  Heaven  preserve  us  ! 

[e]  This  third  sound  of  o  {nor),  is  the  same  as  the  fourth  {not), 
except  that  the  hollow  sound  of  r,  necessarily  lengthens  the  vowel 
a  little. 

[f]  To  give  a  case  of  ambiguity  by  using  the  round  s,  ask  is 
written  like  sack,  and  east  like  seat.  This  is  near  enough  for  a 
reporter  or  even  for  private  writing  ;  but  if  ever  the  system 
should  be  printed  (the  probabilities  of  which  are  greater  than  the 
probabilities  of  long-hand,  500  years  ago),  one  of  these  rules  must 
be  added  :  make  s  with  a  stroke  when  it  begins  a  word  followed 
by  a  vowel  ;  or,  make  s  with  a  stroke  when  a  word  begins  with  a 
vowel,  followed  by  s  and  another  consonant. 

[g]  Many  have  said  that  as  there  are  notes  of  interrogation 
and  exclamation,  there  should  be  one  for  irony.  But  no  writer 
that  the  author  is  aware  of,  has  given  any.  If  this  attempt  to 
make  a  smile  appear  on  paper,  conve}Ting  at  the  same  time  an 
intimation  that  the  words  are  to  be  taken  in  a  contrary  sense,  be 
approved  of,  it  may  be  adopted  by  the  reader.     The  shape  of  the 


Appendix  I 


347 


note  is  something  like  that  of  a  conceited  puppet,  with  an  empty 
noddle. 

[h]  The  punctuation  of  this  petition  was  suggested  to  the 
author  by  a  friend.  It  appears  preferable  to  the  common  mode 
for  many  reasons,  for  which,  however,  we  have  not  room  here. 

[i]  The  following  are  the  particulars  : — 


Straight 

or 
curved 
strokes. 

Loops 

Strokes 
with 
hooks 
or  dots. 

Separate 

dots  and 

marks. 

Pen  off 
for  pre- 
fixes and 
affixes. 

Two 
letters 
in  one 
stroke. 

Byrom   . . 
Taylor    . . 
Lewis 
Pitman  . . 

458 
395 
368 
326 

86 
97 
38 
37 

24 
33 
84 

120 
71 

158 
68 

17 
32 

18 

23 

8 

18 

17 

In  this  calculation  every  author  is  allowed  the  full  privilege 
of  his  alphabetical  words,  arbitraries,  &c,  and  when  a  word  is 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  all  the  consonants  that  are  sounded 
are  written,  and  when  there  is  but  one,  and  a  vowel,  that  is  put. 
The  number  of  other  vowels  that  have  been  counted  may  be  seen 
in  the  specimens,  plate  2.  The  fairest  way  of  judging  between 
the  systems  appears  to  be  this  : — Take  the  number  of  straight  or 
curved  strokes,  and  reckon  every  loop,  hook,  dot,  or  taking  off  the 
pen  as  equal  to  half  a  stroke.  Deduct  all  the  letters  that  follow 
as  a  continuation  of  the  preceding  letter.  The  result  is,  B.  546, 
T.  499,  L.  464,  P.  412.  In  n.  14  we  have  added  the  strokes  to  the 
separate  dots,  &c,  deducting  every  two  strokes  made  as  one. 

In  the  above  table  Mr.  Lewis's  separate  loops  for  s  are  counted 
in  the  first  column,  because  they  require  as  much  time  as  plain 
strokes.  The  loops  in  the  second  column  are  those  that  occur  in 
conjunction. 

The  last  column  includes  all  double  letters  made  by  straight 
strokes,  as  ff,  tt,  and  such  strokes  as  fn,  nr. 

[j]  This  is  no  airy  imagination,  but  a  conclusion  from  these 
premises. 

The  Bible  contains  in  round  numbers  770,000  words.  One  of 
the  best  editions  of  the  Holy  Word,  either  for  the  pocket  or  the 
study  is,  without  controversy,  Mr.  Bagster's  "  English  Version 
of  the  Polyglott  Bible."  The  type  is  sufficiently  large  (nonpareil, 
the  same  as  is  used  in  this  card),  and  the  paper  excellent.  If  the 
worthy  publisher  will  accept  our  judgment  (the  work  is  above 
our  praise)  we  should  say  it  i<*  the  best  small  bible  in  the  world. 
Now,  by  nonpareil  short-hand  (if  the  printers  will  excuse  the 
term,)  fourteen  lines  of  eighteen  words  each  can  be  written  in  a 
square  inch,  =  252,  or  in  a  page  of  two  inches  square,  1008  words. 


348  APPENDIX   1 

770  pages,  therefore,  would  contain  the  Bible,  and  judging  by  the 
same  work  as  a  standard,  these  pages  would  occupy  three-fourths 
of  an  inch  in  thickness  !  Allow  one-eighth  of  an  inch  all  round 
for  margin.  Here  then  we  have  the  Word  of  God  quite  large 
enough  for  reading,  two  and  a  quarter  inches  square,  and  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  thick  !  As  it  would  be  advisable  to  have  all 
the  proper  names  in  long-hand,  this  would  make  the  thickness 
seven-eighths  of  an  inch.  Success  to  the  publisher  who  may 
undertake  it ! 


APPENDIX    II 


THE    EVOLUTION   OF    PHONOGRAPHY 

In  the  narrative  of  the  Life  of  Sir  Isaac  Pitman  given  in  the 
preceding  pages,  reference  is  made  to  the  main  features  in  the 
development  of  his  system  of  Phonography.  But  to  students  of 
the  art,  to  teachers,  and  to  those  interested  in  shorthand  biblio- 
graphy, a  more  minute  description  of  the  evolution  of  the  system 
will,  we  belieye,  prove  acceptable,  and  it  is  consequently  here 
presented.  It  should  be  explained  that  the  changes  noted  are 
those  only  which  were  actually  made  in  the  text-books  issued  in 
the  successive  editions,  no  account  being  taken  of  innumerable  • 
suggestions  and  experiments  for  the  improvement  of  Phonography 
which  were  discussed  from  time  to  time  in  the  shorthand  j 
periodicals,  but  were  never  incorporated  in  the  system. 

First  Edition  (1837). — The  complete  text  of  "  Stenographic 
Sound-hand  "  is  given  in  the  immediately  preceding  pages  ;  the 
two  illustrative  plates  appear  between  pp.  34-5.  In  this  book 
the  consonants  were  given  in  the  order  of  the  common  alphabet 
in  Plate  1,  but  they  were  grouped  in  pairs  in  the  text  of  the  work. 
The  instances  in  which  the  signs  were  changed  in  the  subsequent 
editions  are  indicated  by  small  capital  letters  in  the  following 
list— 

/  b,     I  d,    \  F,    g,   c/  h,     V^_   j,    —   k,    (I,     —  m, 

w  n,    /  p,    //  v  (up),     °  J   S,    \   t,     \  V,    f  W,    <f   Y,    °  J  z. 
To  these  were  added — 

I    wh,     V   CH,    f-  sh.    (  th,    (  thee,    f   zh,   ^  ng. 

Straight  letters  were  hooked  initially  for  /  and  r,  thus  c —  kl, 
c —  kr,  and  there  were  large  initial  hooks  for  [  dw  and  [  tw,  and 
forms  for      l    shr,   )  thr,   )  theer,  and      >   zhv. 

The  vowel  scale  and  diphthongs  were  as  under — 

ou 


ee 

j  aw 

o 

I 

a 

-j  o  t 

o 

U 

ah 

J  00 

349 

o 

oi 

350  APPENDIX   II 

The  short  vowels  were  not  shown  in  the  plate,  but  instruction 
on  their  representation  was  given  in  the  text,  and  was  thus  epitom- 
ized :  "A  long  vowel  is  made  with  a  heavy  dot  or  stroke,  and  a 
short  vowel  by  a  light  one." 

The  following  arbitrary  characters  appear  in  Plate  1  — 
kw,     I     gw,   ~j~  ks,   -j-  gz,  used  to  represent  question  (kw)  ; 
language  (gw)  ;   except  (ks)  ;   and  example  (gz)  respectively. 

.    Writers  were  recommended  to   "  join  little  words  together  " 
(phraseography) . 

Second  Edition  (January,  1840). — In  Phonography  (the 
"  Penny  Plate  ")  the  consonants  were  arranged  in  phonetic  order 
and  paired  (in  accordance  with  a  promise  made  by  the  author 
in  the  First  Edition  that  he  would  subsequently  publish  an 
"  alphabet  according  to  nature  "),  while  the  significance 
attached  to  some  of  the  signs  was  changed,  as  will  be  seen  from 
the  following  list  of  consonants — 

\  p,  \  b,  I  t,  |  d,  /  ch,  I  ;',  —  k,  —  f»  \-  /r  V»  tr, 
(  th,    (  thee,    ° )  s,    °)z,    J  sht     J  zh,    f    t,    ^*  r,    *~*  *», 

^  «,   w  ng,    ~^\  h. 

The  consonant  signs  for  w  and  y  were  discontinued,  also*  the 
hooked  forms  for  tw,  dw,  and  ivh,  and  the  four  arbitrary  characters 
for  kw,  gw,  ks,  and  gz. 

Small  initial  hooks  for  /  and  r  were  added  to  curved  consonants 
thus  :  V_  fl,  ^\  fr,  and  the  thickened  sign  r  was  allotted  to  Ir, 
the  heavy  sign  A  to  hr  and  m  was  thickened  thus,  ^Tior  mp, 
while    <r"s  represented  mr  and   <^^  nr. 

Final  hooks  which  add  I  or  r  were  introduced  read  before  the 
stem  letter,  thus, 

\  pi,    \  Ip;    I    pr,    \  rp;  ^-  fh    Vo  If;  *\  fa    *%  *f> 
The    halving   principle    was   introduced,   thus,     \  p,  \  pt ; 
\  b,    \  bd,  but  with  the  following  and  some  other  irregular 
applications  : 

)  tn,    )  dn,  j  chn,  j<  jn,  S  fn,  ">   vn,   ^  kn,    ~  gn,    ( nt,    (  nd. 
Under   this   principle    Phonography  was  written    c —    the  first 


APPENDIX   II 


351 


sign      "N    represented    phono,  and    the    second    the    suffix    for 

-graphy. 


The    short   vowel  scale   was  illustrated  thus 


o 

* 
do 


though  different  letters  from  those  here  shown  were  used  to 
indicate  their  significance.     The  following  four  angular  double 


vowels  were  introduced,  namely, 

Li 

Wl, 


I, 


wao, 


&d, 


01, 


four  angular  treble  vowels, 

of  these  characters  were   intended,   the 

to  represent  foreign  or  provincial  sounds. 


woi. 


ou,  and 
wou.     Some 


Penny  Plate  "  states, 
The  w  and  y  series  was 


c| 


introduced 


we 

way 

wall 


etc., 


ye 

yay   etc.,  both  long  and  short. 

yah 


Third  Edition  (September,  1840). — The  consonant  representa- 
tion remained  the  same.  The  vowel  signs  were  exhibited  in 
tabular  form  with  the  "  Single  or  pure  vowels  "  at  the  head,  thus  : 
Long — e,  a,  ah  ;  an,  o,  oo.  Short — *,  e,  a  ;  o,  u,  oo.  Under 
"  Double  Vowels  "  were  shown  the  y'and  w  series,  and  another 
i  series  of  angular  signs,  with  some  additions  for  foreign  sounds. 
There  was  a  table  of  "  Treble  Vowels,"  including  |  wi,  and  a 
series  of  fourteen  signs  for  representing  foreign  and  provincial 
sounds.     These  were  indicated  by  the  sign  just  shown,  in  different' 

Ej 

positions,  and  by     i  yae,  etc. 

Fourth  Edition  (1841). — The  termination  -shon  or  -Hon  was 
represented  by  a  tick  or  a  curve  as  I  .-o'  The  angular 
double  vowels  were  reduced  to  three  by  the  omission  of  ao,  the 
angular  treble  vowels  to  two  by  the  omission  of  wao  and  woi, 
and  the  yae  series  of  signs  omitted  altogether  from  the  body  of 
the  work,  and  placed  at  the  end,  in  an  Appendix  devoted  to 
"  Foreign  Sounds  and  Provincialisms." 

Fifth  Edition  (1842). — The  sign  ~^\  was  allotted  to  v,  with 
/rasa  duplicate  sign  (it  was  hooked  c^  for  rch),  and  the 
signification  of      i    was  changed  to  rl.     The  aspirate  was  repre- 


sented  by   a   reversed    comma,    thus 


he 

':  haw 

ha 

»i  ho 

hah 

,;  hoo 

When 


needful  the  aspirate  mark  was  enlarged  to  the  size  of  a  consonant, 
thus,      C   hew. 


352  APPENDIX   II 

Intersected  and  Contracted  Words  introduced  ;  list  of 
Phraseograms  given. 

Sixth  Edition  (1844). — This  edition,  in  the  form  of  a  "  Penny 
Plate,"  anticipated  some  of  the  improvements  which  were  in 
preparation  for  the  next  (Seventh)  Edition.  The  sign  o^  was 
allotted  to  rl.  The  aspirate  was  now  expressed  by  adding  a  dot 
to  the  following  vowel,  thus,      |  heat. 

The  final  hook  was  given  the  signification  of  n  when  on  the  left 
side  of  a  straight  consonant,  thus,  ^N  ,  and  shn  on  the  right  side, 
thus,  \>  .  A  hook  at  the  end  of  any  curved  consonant  repre- 
sented n.  All  consonants  except  ng,  expressed  the  addition  of 
t  or  d  when  half  length. 

The  number  of  simple  long  vowels  was  increased  by  one  and 
now  ran  as  follows  : 


e, 


ah,        j  au,      "j  uh,      •;  oh,      J  oo. 


The  new  vowel  sign  uh  necessitated  a  similar  change  in  the  short 
vowels,  and  the  addition  of  the  following  new  signs  in  the  w  and  y 
series,  namely,     m|    yo  and    3]  wo. 

Grammalogues  were  introduced,  the  first  list  consisting  of  the, 
and,  of,  to,  in,  that,  it,  is,  as,  for,  which,  have,  their,  from,  more, 
them,  shall,  upon,  Lord,  been. 

■  Seventh  Edition  (1845). — The  double  consonant  Ir  was  repre- 
sented by  r  and  (T  and  rl  by  o-"  .  The  sign  l  was  adopted 
as  unhooked  vr.  The  method  of  vocalizing  consonants  of  the  pi 
series  was  introduced. 

The  termination  -Hon  following  a  curved  consonant  was  repre- 
sented by  a  large  hook,  thus,    ^p  nation.     Loops  for  st  and  sir, 
and  the  s-shon  termination  were  introduced,  thus     \  sip,     x>  pstr,  ^ 
\?  ps-shon.    - 

From  this  edition  the  list  of  Arbitrary  Words  given  in  the 
preceding  six  editions  disappeared,  an  extended  list  of  Gramma- 
logues taking  their  place.  Under  the  discontinued  arrangement 
each  single  or  hooked  character  had,  in  addition  to  its  alphabetic 
name,  assigned  to  it  the  representation  of  one  or  several  words. 
The  list  had  been  greatly  reduced  in  1841. 


APPENDIX   II  353 

Eighth  Edition  (1847). — The  use  of  n  before  the  treble 
consonants  introduced,  thus,  \>  inspiration.  From  the  vowel 
scale    -i  uh  disappeared,  and  the  sign  henceforth  represented  a. 

Ninth  Edition  (1852). — Consonant  forms  provided  for  w  and 
y,  namely,  \  w,  r  y  ;  also  ^  for  h,  in  place  of  [  ;  o  wl, 
c-""  wr,  <r^  wm,  c— '  wn.  The  writing  of  a  curved  consonant  twice 
its  usual  size  to  express  the  addition  of  the  heavy  thr  introduced. 

Among  the  diphthongs   v|    is  re-introduced  to  represent  ai. 

Tenth  Edition  (1857). — In  this  edition  the  order  of  the 
consonants  was  altered  as  follows  :  k,  g,  t,  d,  ch,  j,  p,  b,  sh,  zh,  s, 
z,  th,  thee,  f,  v,  I,  r,  ng,  n,  m.  The  additional  form  /  (down)  was 
introduced  for  the  consonantal  representation  of  the  aspirate, 
in  addition  to  the  character  employed  in  the  preceding  edition. 

The  small  final  hook  on  the  right  side  of  a  straight  consonant, 
or  above  it,  as  in  (,  and  — =>  was  assigned  to  the  representation 
of  /  and  v,  and  -Hon  was  indicated  by  a  large  final  hook  attached  to 
a  straight  consonant,  as  lj  and  _o  .  The  aspirated  w  was 
indicated  thus,    a 


I 


The  vowel  scale  was  changed  from 


el 

*j  ah 

a 

to 

•i  a 

ah 

lie 

with 


the  following  explanation  :  "  Experience  has  shown  that  the 
present  arrangement  is  more  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
phonetic  writing,  and  more  convenient  for  the  writer."  Similar 
changes  were  made  in  the  short  vowels,  and  the  w  and  y  series. 

The  diphthong  ai  was  altered  to  the  following  form 

Eleventh  Edition  (1863). — The  following  additional  conso- 
nant signs  introduced  :  c^  for  w,  in  addition  to  i  ;  <^  for  y, 
in  addition  to  f  ;  and  for  h  <s^  and  /  ;  the  tick  h  was  also 
used  as  in  /—,  hm. 

Large  initial  hooks  were  introduced  to  indicate  the  addition 
of  /  to  curved  letters  and  duplicate  forms  assigned  as  follows  : 
J  (down)  cJ  (up)  shr ,  3  (down)  cJ  (up)  shl  /CO  thr  ; 
\*  *  ff,  V_  i  fl ;  c_^  nr,  c_^  nl ;  <r^  represented  mpr.  The 
aspirated  w  indicated  by  a  thickened  hook,  thus,  *-*"  wh,  in 
addition  to  the  Tenth  Edition  form.  The  back  hook  for  adding 
the  prefix  in-  employed  in  *  ~\  inscribe,    4s  inhabit,  etc. 


354  APPENDIX   II 

The  following  changes  were  made  in  the  diphthongs  :  !  ai,  i  oi. 
The     |  ah-e  series  of  disyllabic  diphthongs  introduced. 

Twelfth  Edition  (1868). — The  order  of  the  phonographic 
consonants  was  altered  as  follows  :  p,  b  ;  t,  d  ;  ch,  j  ;  k,  g  ; 
/,  v  ;  th,  thee  ;  s,  z  ;  sh,  zh  ;  m,  n,  ng.  Only  one  consonant  form 
was  now  assigned  to  y,  namely,  a^"  ,  and  r  represented  Ir 
instead  of    C  ,  which  was  assigned  to  wl. 

After  this  issue  **  Editions  "  were  discontinued. 

1870. — ^The  triphthong  j  wi  discontinued.  The  signs  \  thl, 
V  thl  introduced. 

1871. — The  character  C  was  assigned  to  wh  ;  (T  to  wl,  and 
C   to  whl.     The  sign      i  was  given  the  significance  of  rch,  rf. 

1873. — In  the  list  of  Grammalogues  /  was  substituted  for 
i   to  represent  he. 

1881. — The  double-length  principle  was  applied  to  a  straight 
consonant  when  following  another,  as  I  j  conductor.  (There  was 
a  preliminary  introduction  of  the  principle  in  1879  at  the  end  of 
"  Key  to  the  Reporting  Exercises.") 

1884. — The  double-length  principle  was  extended  to  straight 
consonants  ending  with  hook,  or  circle  ns,  as,  *\  printer, 
— r-o  counters. 

1885. — In  the  list  of  Grammalogues   i  replaces  /  for  he. 

1886. — It  was  announced  that  the  perpendicular  or  horizontal 
tick  for  a  "  joined  a  or  an  "  had  been  used  for  many  years,  but  as 
it  was  found  to  clash  in  rapid  writing  with  the  joined  tick  for 
the,  it  was  now  given  up. 

1887. — The  double  consonant  sw  expressed  by  a  large  initial 
circle   introduced,   thus,    j     sweet,   CT*  swim.      The  triphthong 

|  wi  re-introduced. 
lSSS."— -The  signs   0  M>  C  thl  discontinued. 
1889. — The  double  consonant      l  rch,  rj  discontinued. 


APPENDIX    III 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

PAGE 

I.  SHORTHAND    WORKS                 ....  355 

II.  BOOKS    IN    SHORTHAND    CHARACTER              .                      .  371 

III.  PERIODICALS  .....  374 

IV.  SPELLING    REFORM    TRACTS  .                       .                      .  378 
^V.  BOOKS    IN    REFORMED    SPELLING          .                      .                      .  378 

I.     SHORTHAND   WORKS 

Manual 

Stenographic  Sound-hand,  by  Isaac  Pitman.  London  :  Samuel 
Bagster,  at  his  Warehouse  for  Bibles,  Testaments,  Prayer 
Books,  Lexicons,  &c,  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Languages, 
No.  15  Paternoster  row.  Also  sold  by  the  Author,  Wotton 
Underedge  ;  and  by  all  Booksellers.  Price  four-pence.  [The 
above  is  on  the  cover.  The  heading  to  the  text  is  :  "  Short- 
hand, founded  on  '  Walker's  Principles  of  English  Pronunci- 
ation.' "  The  book  consists  of  12  pp.  and  2  plates.  Plate 
i.  Vowel  sounds,  and  single  and  double  consonants  ;  ii.  The 
"  Wheel  "  diagram  of  characters,  Examples,  Lord's  Prayer, 
Psalm  100,  and  Rules  of  Life.  This  was  the  First  Edition, 
and  consisted  of  3,000  Copies.     (15th  Nov.,  1837.)      12mo.] 

Phonography  or  Writing  by  Sound,  being  also  a  New  and  Natural 
System  of  Short -Hand.  Invented  and  drawn  by  I.  Pitman, 
5  Nelson  place,  Bath.  Price  one  penny.  S.  Bagster,  15 
Paternoster  row,  London.  [Post  4to,  8  in.  by  6£  in.,  printed 
from  an  engraved  steel  plate,  published  simultaneously  with 
the  introduction  of  the  Penny  Postage,  10th  Jan.,  1840.  The 
first  issue  had  no  reading  matter  down  the  left  and  right  sides 
outside  the  rule.  Along  the  bottom  was  the  statement  that 
"  Any  person  may  receive  lessons  from  the  Author  by  post 
at  Is.  each  to  be  paid  in  advance,  etc."  The  second  issue  had 
the  notice  :  "  To  purchasers  of  early  impressions,"  etc.,  down 
the  sides.  The  third  issue  had  along  the  bottom  the  altered 
statement  :  "  Any  person  may  receive  lessons  from  the 
Author  by  post  gratuitously."  The  Second  Edition  of  the 
system.] 

355 


356  APPENDIX   III 

Mounted  on  canvas  and  bound  in  cloth,  lettered,  with  two 
chapters  from  the  N.  T.  (Rev.  21  and  Mat.  5)  as  additional 
exercises  [at  the  back],  Is.  London  :  S.  Bagster,  15  Pater- 
noster row,  1840.  Exercises  in  Phonography  containing  the 
above  chapters  was  issued  separately  as  plate  No.  2,  price  Id. 
[Eng.  steel  plate,  7  in.  x  8£  in.,  folded  in  six.  Also  the  Second 
Edition  of  the  system.] 

Phonography,  or  Writing  by  Sound  ;  being  a  Natural  Method 
of  Writing  applicable  to  all  Languages,  and  a  complete  system 
of  Short  Hand.  By  Isaac  Pitman,  5,  Nelson  place,  Bath. 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall.  London  :  Samuel  Bagster  & 
Sons,  15  Paternoster  row.  [Sept.]  1840.  Price  8d.  ;  cloth 
Is.  [Demy  8vo.  24  pp.  This  is  Part  I.,  consisting  of 
Introduction,  System,  and  Rules.  There  was  also  an  issue 
in  Dec.  Part  II.,  when  published  separately,  was  called 
Exercises  in  Phonography,  or  Writing  by  Sound,  being  a 
Natural  Method  of  Writing  applicable  to  all  Languages,  and 
a  Complete  System  of  Short  Hand.  By  I.  Pitman.  London  : 
Samuel  Bagster.  1840.  Price  8d.  Demy  8vo.  15  pp. 
When  bound  together  the  second  part  was  paged  25-38. 
Price  2s.  The  Exercises  were  engraved  on  wood.  The 
diagram  shown  below  appeared  on  the  title  page  and,  when 
bound,  on  the  cloth  cover  of  these  books. 
Whether  single  or  together,  the  parts  were 
the  Third  Edition.]  $ 

Title  Page  and  11  pages  of  Part  I.  Printed 
on  a  large  sheet.  Bagster  &  Sons.  1840. 
Price  8d. 

Twelve  Pages  of  Part  II.,  or  the  Exercises 
printed  on  a  large  sheet.     Bagster  &  Sons, 

1840.  Price  8d. 

Phonography  and  Shorthand.  A  Natural  Method  of  Writing  all 
Languages  by  Signs  that  Represent  their  Sounds.  By  Isaac 
Pitman.  Fourth  Edition,  50,000  copies  [including  previous 
editions.]     Price  one  penny.     London,  Samuel  Bagster  &  Sons, 

1841.  [Demy  4to.  Letterpress  and  woodcuts,  printed  on 
both  sides.] 

Same  as  above.  Price  threepence.  On  pink  enamelled  paper  ; 
a  double  sheet,  printed  on  one  side  only. 

Phonography,  or  Writing  by  Sound,  a  Natural  Method  of  Writing 
all  Languages  by  Signs  representative  of  Sounds.  And  a 
Complete  System  of  Shorthand.  By  Isaac  Pitman,  5  Nelson 
place,  Bath.     London  :    Bagster  &  Sons,  15  Paternoster  row, 

1842.  [Large  8vo.  Introduction,  System,  and  Rules  form 
a  first  part.  Sold  separately.  To  this  was  added  a  second 
part.  Examples  cut  in  wood,  37  pp.  in  all,  numbered  1-24 
and  3-15.     This  was  a  first  issue  of  the  Fifth  Edition.] 


APPENDIX    III  357 

Pocket  Edition.  Phonography,  or  Writing  by  Sound  ;  a  Natural 
Method,  etc.  Fifth  Edition,  improved.  Seventieth  thousand. 
London  :  Samuel  Bagster  &  Sons,  15  Paternoster  row.  1842. 
[Royal  32mo.  64  pp.,  bound,  price  2s.  The  cover  bore  the 
design  illustrated  on  p.  71.  The  same  work  was  also  issued  as 
a  "  People's  Edition,"  in  royal  8vo.  (four  of  the  small  pages  in 
one),  price  Is.  ;  and  as  a  "  School  Edition,"  royal  32mo., 
24  pp.,  price  3d.     See  next  two  entries.] 

A  Manual  of  Phonography  or  Writing  by  Sound  ;  a  Natural 
Method  of  Writing  all  Languages  by  one  Alphabet,  composed 
of  Signs  that  represent  the  Sounds  of  the  Human  Voice  : 
adapted  also  to  the  English  Language  as  a  complete  system 
of  Short  Hand,  briefer  than  any  other  system,  and  by  which 
a  speaker  can  be  followed  verbatim,  without  the  use  of  any 
arbitrary  marks,  beyond  the  Letters  of  the  Alphabet.  By 
Isaac  Pitman.  Fifth  Edition,  improved.  London  :  Samuel 
Bagster  &  Sons,  15,  Paternoster  row.  1842.  [Royal  8vo. 
16  pp.  The  same  as  the  last  entry,  four  pages  in  one.  It  is 
called  the  "  People's  Edition  "  on  the  paper  cover.  In  some 
copies  the  title  commences  "  Phonography,  or  writing  by 
sound."] 

(School  Edition.)  Abridged  from  the  "  Pocket  Edition,"  for 
the  use  of  British,  National,  and  Charity  schools.  Phono- 
graphy, or  Writing  by  Sound,  etc.  Fifth  Edition,  improved. 
Eightieth  thousand.  London  :  Samuel  Bagster  &  Sons, 
15  Paternoster  row.     1843.     [Royal  32mo.     24  pp.     3d.] 

Phonetic  Writing.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Price  Id.,  mounted  6d. 
Pitman,  Bath  ;  Bagster,  London.  December,  1843.  5th 
Edition,  90,000  copies. 

Phonography,  or  Phonetic  Short  Hand.  Price,  on  plain  paper, 
Id.  ;  on  card  folded  up  as  a  book,  6d.  Fifth  Edition.  Total 
number  of  copies,  90,000.     [4to  lith.  sheet.] 

Phonography,  by  Isaac  Pitman.  5th  Edition,  100,000  copies. 
[4to  lith.  sheet.     Dec.  1843.     Price  Id.] 

A  Penny  Sheet  of  the  First  and  Second  Styles  of  Phonography. 
June,  1844.     [4 to  sheet.     Type  and  wood  cuts.] 

A  Table  of  the  Third  Style  of  Phonography.  Sixth  Edition. 
London,  June,  1844.  6d.  [Royal  4to  sheet,  introducing  the 
improvements  of  the  Seventh  Edition  while  the  book  was  in 
preparation.] 

A  Table  of  the  Second  Style  of  Phonography.  Seventh  Edition, 
March,  1845.  Pitman,  Bath.  Bagster,  London.  [Royal  4to. 
Type  and  wood  cuts.     3d.] 

A  Penny  Sheet  of  the  First  Style  of  Phonography.  Seventh 
Edition.     April,  1845.     Price  3d.     Bagster  &  Sons,  London. 


358  APPENDIX   III 

A  Manual  of  Phonography  ;  or  Writing  by  Sound  :  a  natural 
Method  of  Writing  by  Signs  that  represent  the  sounds  of 
language,  and  adapted  to  the  English  language  as  a  complete 
System  of  Phonetic  Shorthand.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Seventh 
Edition.  Published  by  Isaac  Pitman  at  the  Phonographic 
Institution,  5  Nelson  place,  Bath;  and  at  the  Phonographic 
and  Phonotypic  depot,  1  Queen's  Head  passage,  Paternoster 
row,  London.  Edinburgh,  John  Johnstone,  Hunter  square  ; 
Dublin,  S.  B.  Oldham,  8  Suffolk  street ;  Paris,  M.  Degetau  et 
Cie,  12  Place  de  la  Bourse  ;  Boston,  Andrews  &  Boyle,  339. 
Washington  street.  Sept.  1845.  A  "  People's  Edition," 
London  and  Bath,  bore  the  date  1845.  [Fcap.  8vo. 
This  size  was  from  this  time  adopted  for  the  text-books. 
64  pp.    Is.] 

A  Manual  of  Phonography,  etc.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  With  an 
Appendix  on  the  application  of  Phonography  to  foreign 
languages.  By  A.  J.  Ellis,  B.A.  (Seventh  Edition.)  London  : 
Samuel  Bagster  &  Sons,  15  Paternoster  row,  Bath  :  Isaac 
Pitman,  Phonetic  Institution,  5  Nelson  place.  1845.  [64  pp.  ; 
Appendix,  36  pp.  2s.  The  Appendix  was  also  published 
separately,  price  6d.] 

Phonography,  or  Writing  by  Sound.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Price 
3d.  Feb.,  1847.  Another  issue,  May,  1847.  [Royal  4to 
sheet.] 

Additions  to  Phonography  supplementary  to  the  Eighth  Edition. 
4  pp.  letterpress  and  engraved  shorthand.  Price  Id.  5th 
March,   1852. 

Rough  draft  of  the  Eighth  Edition.  14  pp.  of  lithographed 
Phonography.     5th  April,  1847. 

Eighth  Edition.  [Quotation  from  the  English  Review  on  title 
page,  as  given  on  p.  186  ante.  This  was  continued  down  to 
1894.]  London  :  Fred.  Pitman,  Phonetic  Depot,  1  Queen's 
Head  Passage,  Paternoster  Row.  Bath  :  Isaac  Pitman, 
Phonetic  Institution,  5  Nelson  place.  1847.  [72  pp.,  including 
8  steel  plates.     Is.  6d.     The  Appendix  is  discontinued.] 

Seventh  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition. 
Ninth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1848. 
Eleventh  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1848. 
Twelfth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.      1848. 
Fifteenth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1848. 
Twentieth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1849. 
Twenty-fifth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1849. 
Thirtieth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1849. 
Thirty-third  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1851. 
Fifty-sixth   thousand   of   the   Eighth   Edition.     London  :     Fred 
Pitman,  Phonetic  Depot,  20  Paternoster  Row.     1851. 


APPENDIX    III  359 

Ninth  Edition.     One  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  thousand.     1 852. 
One  hundred  and  thirtieth  thousand.     1853. 
One  hundred  and  thirty-fifth  thousand.     1853. 
One  hundred  and  fortieth  thousand.     1855. 

Circular  letter  on  the  Changes  proposed  to  be  introduced  into 
the  Tenth  Edition.  [Small  8vo,  8  pp.  in  litho.  shorthand. 
7th  Nov.     1857.] 

Tenth  Edition.     One  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1857. 

One  hundred  and  fifty-fourth  thousand.     1858. 
One  hundred  and  fifty-fifth  thousand.     1860. 
One  hundred  and  sixtieth  thousand.     1860. 
One  hundred  and  sixty-sixth  thousand.     1861. 

Supplement  to  the  Ninth  Edition.  [Fcap.  8vo,  4  pp.  letterpress 
and  shorthand.]  "  Purchasers  of  the  Ninth  Edition  of  the 
Manual  of  Phonography  are  requested  to  paste  these  four 
pages  in  their  copies  after  page  64."     March,  1861. 

Rough  proof  of  a  new  Edition  of  the  supplement  to  the  Tenth 
Edition,  containing  a  new  downward  r.  4  pp.  letterpress  and 
shorthand.     Six  editions  (Nos.  1  to  6)  issued  in  Sept.,  1862. 

Eleventh  Edition.  One  hundred  and  seventieth  thousand. 
1862. 

One  hundred  and  seventy -seventh  thousand.     1863. 

Supplement  to  the  Tenth  Edition  of  the  Manual  of  Phonography. 

[Fcap.  8vo,  4  pp.  letterpress  and  shorthand.]     20th  January, 

1863. 
One  hundred  and  eightieth  thousand.     1864. 

One  hundred  and  eighty-sixth  thousand.     1865.     [The  monogram 

given  below  appeared  on  the  title  page  from  this  edition  down 

to  1873.] 
One  hundred  and  ninetieth  thousand.      1866. 
Twelfth  Edition.   Two  hundredth  thousand.    1867. 
Two  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1868. 
Two     hundred     and     twentieth    thousand.        1868. 

[Editions     discontinued,     this     being     the    last 

bearing  the    words  "Twelfth    Edition"   on   the 

title  page.] 
Two  hundred  and  thirtieth  thousand.     1870. 
Two  hundred  and  thirty-fifth  thousand.     1871. 
Two  hundred  and  fortieth  thousand.     1871. 
Two  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1872. 
Two  hundred  and  fifty-fifth  thousand.     1873.    [Shorthand  reading 

matter  at  end  first  printed  from  engraved  type,  in  place  of 

steel  plates.] 
Two  hundred  and  sixtieth  thousand.     1873. 
Two  hundred  and  sixty-fifth  thousand.     1873. 


360 


APPENDIX   III 


Two  hundred  and  seventy-fifth  thousand.  •  1874.  [The  mono- 
gram given  below  appeared  on  the  title  page  from  this  edition 
down  to  1886.] 

Two  hundred  and  ninetieth  thousand.     1875. 

Three  hundredth  thousand.     1876.     [64  pp.] 

Three  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1877. 

Three  hundred  and  twentieth  thousand.     1877. 

Three  hundred  and  twenty-eighth  thousand.    1879. 

Three  hundred  and  thirty-sixth  thousand.     1880. 

Three  hundred  and  sixtieth  thousand.     1881. 

Three  hundred  and  seventy-sixth  thousand.     1882. 

Three  hundred  and  ninety-fourth  thousand.     1883. 

Four  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1883. 

Four  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  thousand.     1884. 

Four  hundred  and  thirty-eighth  thousand.     1885. 

Four  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1885. 

Four  hundred  and  seventieth  thousand.     1886. 

Four  hundred  and  eighty-fifth  thousand.     1886. 

Four  hundred  and  ninety-eighth  thousand.  Isaac  Pitman  and 
Sons,  1  Amen  Corner,  London  ;  Bath  :  Phonetic  Institute. 
1887. 

Five  hundred  and  sixth  thousand.     1887. 

Five  hundred  and  twentieth  thousand.  Proof  of  the  Jubilee 
Edition  of  the  Manual  of  Phonography.     88  pp.     1887. 

Five  hundred  and  twentieth  thousand.  New  Edition.  89  pp. 
1888. 

Five  hundred  and  seventieth  thousand.     1888. 

Six  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1889. 

Seven  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.  Rough  Proof.  87  pp. 
London,  Bath,  and  3  East  Fourteenth  Street,  New  York. 
1890. 

Seven  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1890. 

Eight  hundredth  thousand.     1892. 

Eight  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1893. 

Nine  hundredth- thousand.     1894. 

[From  the  date  last  given  Sir  Isaac  Pitman  discontinued  the 
personal  supervision  of  the  issue  of  his  works,  and  the  present 
Bibliography  is  throughout  brought  down  to  this  point.] 


Questions  on  the  Manual. 


Questions  on  Isaac  Pitman's  Manual  of  Phonography.     Adapted 

to  the  Ninth  Edition.     1854.     3d.     [16  pp.] 
Questions.     Tenth  Edition.     1858  and  1860. 
Questions.     Eleventh  Edition.     1863.     1864. 
Questions.     1873.     1875.     1877.     1879.     1883.     1884.     1885. 
Questions.     New  Edition.     1888.     1889.     1891.     1894. 


,     APPENDIX   III  361 

Exercises  on  the  Manual. 

Exercises  in  Phonography  :  a  series  of  Graduated  Writing 
Exercises,  illustrative  of  the  principles  of  the  art,  as  developed 
in  the  "Manual  of  Phonography."  Adapted  to  the  latest 
edition.  [Compiled  by  William  Silver,  with  introduction  by 
Isaac  Pitman.     1871.     Id.     16  pp.] 

Thirty-sixth  thousand.     1874. 

Fifty-fifth  thousand.     1876. 

One  hundred  and  sixth  thousand.     1879. 

One  hundred  and  fourteenth  thousand.     1880. 

One  hundred  and  fifty-sixth  thousand.     1882. 

One  hundred  and  sixty-fifth  thousand.     1882. 

One  hundred  and  eighty-first  thousand.     1883. 

Two  hundredth  thousand.     1884. 

Two  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1884. 

Two  hundred  and  thirtieth  thousand.     1885. 

Two  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1886. 

Two  hundred  and  sixtieth  thousand.     1887. 

Two  hundred  and  eightieth  thousand.     1888. 

Key  to  the  Manual. 

Key  to  Exercises  in  the  Manual  of  Phonography.  By  Isaac 
Pitman.  [Key  to  exercises  in  the  New  Edition  of  the  Manual, 
chiefly  in  engraved  shorthand.  31  pp.]  1888.  1889.  1890. 
1891.     1892.     1894. 

Reporter. 

The  Reporter's  Book,  or  Phonography  adapted  to  verbatim 
reporting.  [First  edition.]  Isaac  Pitman,  Bath.  S.  Bagster 
&  Sons,  London.    1843.    [12mo.    36  printed  and  lith.  pp.]    2s. 

The  Reporter  ;  or  Phonography  adapted  to  verbatim  reporting. 
By  Isaac  Pitman.  Published  by  Isaac  Pitman,  Bath  and 
London.  Sold  by  all  booksellers,  phonographic  lecturers,  and 
teachers.     1845.     [Demy  8vo.     79  pp.,  partly  lith.]     2s. 

The  Reporter.     Second  edition,  1846. 

The  Reporter's  Companion  :  an  adaptation  of  Phonography  (as 
developed  in  the  Eighth  Edition  of  the  "  Manual  "  of  the 
system,)  to  verbatim  reporting.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Third 
edition.  London  :  Fred.  Pitman.  1849.  [Fcap.  8vo.  88  pp. 
2s.  6d.] 

In  the  above  edition  the  following  quotation  appeared  for  the 
first  time  on  the  title  page  (and  was  continued  till  1894)  : — 

11  Shorthand,  on  account  of  its  great  and  general  utility,  merits 
a  much  higher  rank  among  the  arts  and  sciences  than  is 
commonly  allotted  to  it.  Its  usefulness  is  not  confined  to  any 
particular  science  or  profession,  but  is  universal ;  it  is  therefore 
by  no  means  unworthy  the  attention  and  study  of  men  of 
genius  and  erudition." — Dr.  Samuel  Johnson. 


362  APPENDIX    III 

The   Reporter's  Companion,   etc.    (as  developed   in   the   Ninth 

Edition  of  the  "  Manual  "  of  the  system)  etc.     1853.     [8vo. 

96  pp.] 
Eighteenth  thousand.     Fourth  edition.     1854. 
Nineteenth  thousand.     1858. 
Twenty-first  thousand.     (As  developed  in  the  Tenth  Edition 

of  the  "  Manual  "  of  the  system.)      1859. 
Twenty-third  thousand.     1860. 

Twenty-fifth  thousand.     Eleventh  Edition.     1862. 
Twenty-ninth  thousand.     1863. 
Thirty-fourth  thousand.     1866. 
Thirty -sixth  thousand.     Twelfth  Edition.     1869. 
The    Phonographic    Reporter,    or    Reporter's    Companion  :     an 

Adaptation    of    Phonography    to    Verbatim    Reporting.     By 

Isaac  Pitman.  Thirty -sixth  thousand.  London  and  Bath.  1896. 
Thirty-eighth  thousand.     1869. 
Forty-third  thousand.     1870. 
Forty-fifth  thousand.     1871. 
Fiftieth  thousand.     1872. 
Fifty-third  thousand.      1873.      [94  pp.] 
Fifty-eighth  thousand.     1874. 
Sixty-third  thousand.     1875.     [96  pp.] 
Sixty-ninth  thousand.     1876. 
Seventy-seventh  thousand.     1877. 
Eighty-fifth  thousand.     1878. 
Ninety-third  thousand.     1880. 
One  hundred  and  second  thousand.     1882. 
One  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1882. 
One  hundred  and  eighteenth  thousand.     1884. 
One  hundred  and  twenty-eighth  thousand.     1884. 
One  hundred  and  thirty-third  thousand.     1885. 
One  hundred  and  thirty-sixth  thousand.     1886. 
One  hundred  and  forty-second  thousand.     1886. 
One  hundred  and  fifty-third  thousand.     1887. 
One  hundred  and  fifty -third  thousand.     1887.     Isaac  Pitman  & 

Sons,  1  Amen  Corner,  London,  and  Bath. 
One  hundred  and  fifty-ninth  thousand.     1888. 
One  hundred  and  sixty-ninth  thousand.     1888. 
[Enlarged  edition.     112  pp.] 

One  hundred  and  seventy-second  thousand.     1889.     2s. 
One  hundred  and  eighty-sixth  thousand.     1890. 

London,   Bath,  and  3  East  Fourteenth  Street,  New  York. 
One  hundred  and  ninety-sixth  thousand.     1892. 
Two  hundred  and  first  thousand.     1893. 
Two  hundred  and  eleventh  thousand.     1894. 
Two  hundred  and  twenty-first  thousand.     1894. 

Grammalogues    and    Contractions    for    use    in    classes.     1876. 
[8  pp.     Frequently  re-issued  in  subsequent  years.] 


APPENDIX   III  363 

Reporting  Exercises. 

Reporting  Exercises  :  intended  as  a  companion  to  the  Phono- 
graphic Reporter,  or  Reporter's  Companion.  London  and 
Bath.  1872.  [30  pp.  in  letterpress.  Preface  by  Isaac 
Pitman,  who  states  that  the  exercises  were  compiled  by 
William  Silver  and  that  T.  G.  Johnson  contributed  the  exercise 
on  the  law  phrases  :  "  The  publisher  has  inserted  the  '  Rules 
for  Writing  /  and  r,  added  a  short  praxis  on  Intersected  Words, 
and  made  some  other  improvements."] 

Reporting  Exercises  :  A  Praxis  on  the  Phonographic  Reporter, 
or  Reporter's  Companion.  Enlarged  to  32  pp.  Editions 
appeared  in  1877  and  1879.  Enlarged  to  36  pp.  Editions 
appeared  in  1881,  1883,  1884,  1885,  1887,  1888,  1889,  1890, 
1891,   1894. 

Key  to  Reporting  Exercises.  In  Pitman's  Phonography.  1879. 
[62  pp.  Contains  at  the  end  an  article  on  the  extension  of 
the  double  length  principle  to  straight  letters — the  first 
appearance  of  the  method  in  the  text-books.  In  the  issues 
for  1883,  1884,  1886,  1887  and  1888  this  article  also  appeared, 
but  was  discontinued  in  succeeding  editions. 

Key  to  Reporting  Exercises.  In  Pitman's  Phonography.  New 
Edition.     1889.     [64  pp.] 

Other  editions  appeared  in  1891,   1894. 

Reporter's  Assistant. 

Reporter's  Assistant  (The)  ;  a  key  to  the  reading  of  the  Reporting 
Style  of  Phonography.     1867.     [8vo.     86  pp.     lith.] 

Reporter's  Assistant  and  the  Learner's  Guide  to  a  knowledge  of 
Phonography  (The)  ;  a  key  to  the  reading  of  the  Reporting 
Style  of  Phonography,  and  a  Course  of  Lessons  for  learners 
in  Shorthand  outlines.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Second  edition. 
1883.     [8vo.     79  pp.,  letterpress  and  engraved  characters.] 

Third  edition.     1885. 

Fourth  edition.     1890,   1892.     [80   pp.] 

Phrase  Books. 

Phonographic  Phrase  Book  (The),  with  the  Grammalogues  of  the 
Reporting  Style  of  Phonography.     By  Isaac  Pitman.     1858. 
[Fcap.  8vo.   48  pp.     The  phrases  were  indicated  in  stenotypy. 
This  work  succeeded  two  editions  issued  by  T.  A.  Reed  with 
the  permission  and  approval  of  Isaac  Pitman.] 
Subsequent  editions  in  1859,  1860,  1862,  1864,  and  1866. 
New  edition.     1866.     [100  pp.,  partly  letterpress,  partly  lith.] 
Also  in  1868  and  1871.     [96  pp.,  partly  letterpress,  partly  lith.] 
Phonographic    Phrase    Book    (The).     By    Isaac    Pitman.     1873. 
[Fcap.     8vo.     48    pp.      Phrases    entirely    in    lithographed 
shorthand.] 


364  APPENDIX   III 

Phonographic  Phrase  Book  (The),  with  the  Grammalogues  of  the 
Reporting  Style  of  Phonography.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  1874. 
[48  pp.  engraved  shorthand  characters.] 

Subsequent  editions  in  1875,  1877,  1881,  1883,  1885,  1887,  1889, 
1890,  and  1893,  the  last  named  edition  having  an  exercise 
on  the  phrases  in  letterpress,  compiled  by  George  Andrews. 

Phonographic  Railway  Phrase  Book  (The).  1869.  [20  pp. 
lithographed.  In  the  preface  Isaac  Pitman  expressed  indebt- 
edness to  Edward  Johnson  and  others  in  the  preparation  of 
the  work.] 

Phonographic  Railway  Phrase  Book  (The)  ;  an  adaptation  of 
Phonography  to  the  requirements  of  Railway  Business  and 
correspondence.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Second  edition.  1872. 
[20  pp.] 

Third  edition.     1874. 

Other  editions,  1880  and  1884,  1889,  1892  (all  litho.). 

Phonographic  Legal  Phrase  Book  (The).  An  adaptation  of 
Phonography  to  the  requirements  of  Legal  Business  and 
Correspondence.  1882.  [20  pp.  Frequently  re-issued  in 
subsequent  years.] 

Teacher  Series. 
Class-Book. 

The  Phonographic  Class-Book.  Pitman,  Bath.  Bagster,  Lon- 
don.    [Fcap.  8vo.     24  lith.  pp.     1843.     6d.] 

The  Phonographic  Class-Book.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  1844.  [24 
pp.  letterpress  with  shorthand  characters  engraved  on  wood.] 

The  Phonographic  Class-Book.  An  improved  edition,  adapted 
to  the  Fifth  Edition  of  Phonography.  Bath  :  published  by 
Isaac  Pitman,  at  the  Phonographic  Institution,  5  Nelson  place. 
London  :  S.  Bagster  &  Sons,  15  Paternoster  row.  Sold  by 
all  booksellers,  and  by  phonographic  lecturers  and  teachers. 
1844.     [24  pp.  similar  to  previous  edition.] 

The  Phonographic  Class-Book,  adapted  to  the  Sixth  Edition 
of  Phonography.     1844.     [24  lith.  pp.] 

The  Phonographic  Class-Book.  1845.  [24  pp.  letterpress  and 
wood  engraved  shorthand.] 

The  Phonographic  Class-Book.  1846.  [24  pp.  similar  to 
previous  edition.] 

The  Phonographic  Class-Book.     1847.     [24  lith.  pp.] 

Exercises. 

Exercises  in  Phonography.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  London  : 
Bagster  &  Sons,  15,  Paternoster  row.  Sold  also  by  the  author, 
5  Nelson  place,  Bath,  and  by  all  booksellers.  1842.  [12mo. 
24  pp.  lith.  shorthand  reading  matter  only.] 


APPENDIX    III  365 

Exercises  in  Phonography.     1842.     [8  pp.  lith.  shorthand  reading 

matter  only.     Another  work.] 
Exercises  in  Phonography.     6d.     1843.     [24  pp.  lith.  shorthand 

reading  matter  only.] 

Exercises  in  Phonography.  Designed  to  conduct  the  pupil  to 
a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  art.  (Formerly  called  "  The 
Phonographic  Class-Book. ")  By  Isaac  Pitman.  English 
Review  quotation  on  title  page  ;  see  p.  186.  London  and 
Bath.  1847.  Price  6d.  [32  pp.  letterpress  rules  with 
shorthand  characters  and  reading  matter  engraved  on  wood.] 

Eleventh  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     London.     1848. 
Fourteenth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1848. 
Sixteenth  thousand  of  Eighth  Edition,  1848. 
Twentieth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1848. 
Twenty-fourth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1848. 
Twenty-fifth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1848. 
Thirtieth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1849. 
Fortieth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1849. 
Fiftieth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     London  and  Bath. 

1850. 
Fifty-sixth  thousand  of  the  Eighth  Edition.     1851. 


Instructor. 

The  Phonographic  Instructor.  A  new  and  improved  edition  of 
"  Exercises  in  Phonography,"  designed  to  conduct  the  pupil 
to  a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  art.  By  Isaac  Pitman. 
Ninth  Edition.  Two  hundred  and  third  thousand.  London 
and  Bath.  1852.  [Fcap.  8vo.  32  pp.  The  passage  from 
Henry  Sutton's  "  Evangel  of  Love,"  which  forms  the  plate 
facing  p.  287,  is  first  quoted  in  this  edition.] 

Ninth  edition.     Two  hundred  and  sixth  thousand.     1852. 

Ninth  edition.     Two  hundred  and  fifteenth  thousand.     1853. 

Ninth  edition.     Two  hundred  and  twentieth  thousand.     1853. 

Ninth  edition.     Two  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  thousand.     1854. 

Exercises  in  Phonography.  A  course  of  Reading  Lessons  in 
Phonetic  Shorthand.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  In  accordance  with 
the  Ninth  Edition  of  Phonography.  1853-4.  [48  pp.  wood 
engraved  shorthand  with  letterpress  key  at  foot,  •  supple- 
mentary to  the  Phonographic  Instructor."] 

The  Phonographic  Instructor  :  a  Course  of  Lessons  in  Phonetic 
Shorthand.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Ninth  edition.  Two  hun- 
dred and  thirtieth  thousand.     1856. 

Tenth  Edition.     Two  hundred  and  thirty-fifth  thousand.    1857. 

Tenth  edition.     Two  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1857. 


366 


APPENDIX   III 


Teacher. 

New  Edition  of  the  "  Phonographic  Instructor."     The  Phono- 
graphic Teacher  :   a  Course  of  Lessons  in  Phonetic  Shorthand. 
By  Isaac  Pitman.     Tenth  Edition.     Two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
thousand.     1858.     6d. 
Tenth  Edition.     Two  hundred  and  sixtieth  thousand.     1859. 
The  Phonographic  Teacher.     Tenth  Edition.     Two  hundred  and 

sixty-fifth  thousand.     1860. 
Tenth  Edition.     Two  hundred  and  seventy -fifth  thousand.     1861. 
Tenth  edition.     Two  hundred  and  eightieth  thousand.     1861. 
Eleventh  Edition.     Two  hundred  and  eighty-fifth  thousand. 
1862. 

Two  hundred  and  ninety-fifth  thousand.    1862. 
Three  hundredth  thousand.     1863. 
Three  hundred  and  fifth  thousand.     1863. 
Three  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1863. 


Eleventh  Edition. 
Eleventh  Edition 
Eleventh  Edition 
Eleventh  Edition 
Eleventh  Edition. 

1864. 
Eleventh  Edition 

1864. 
Eleventh 

1865. 
Eleventh 

1866. 
Eleventh 

1867. 
Twelfth  Edition 


Three  hundred  and  twenty-fourth  thousand. 

Three  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  thousand. 

Edition.     Three    hundred    and    forty-fifth    thousand. 


Edition.     Three    hundred    and    fifty-fifth    thousand. 

Edition.     Three    hundred    and    sixty-fifth    thousand. 

Three  hundred  and  seventy-fifth  thousand. 


1868. 

Twelfth  Edition.   Three  hundred  and  eighty-fifth  thousand.    1868. 
Twelfth  Edition.     Four  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1869. 

[Editions  discontinued.] 

Four  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  thousand.     1870. 

Four  hundred  and  thirtieth  thousand.     1870. 

Four  hundred  and  thirty-fifth  thousand.     1871. 

Four  hundred  and  forty-fifth  thousand.     1872. 

Four  hundred  and  sixty -fifth  thousand.     1873. 

Revised  Edition.     Four  hundred  and  sixty-ninth  thousand.   1873. 

Four  hundred  and  ninetieth  thousand.     1874. 

Five  hundredth  thousand.     1874. 

Five  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1874. 

Five  hundred  and  twentieth  thousand.     1875. 

Five  hundred  and  thirtieth  thousand.     1875. 

Five  hundred  and  fortieth  thousand.     1875. 

Five  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1876. 

Five  hundred  and  sixtieth  thousand.     1876. 

Five  hundred  and  seventieth  thousand.     1876. 

Five  hundred  and  eightieth  thousand.     1877. 


APPENDIX    III  367 

Five  hundred  and  eighty-fifth  thousand.     1877. 

Six  hundred  and  eighty -sixth  thousand.     1879. 

Seven  hundred  and  fortieth  thousand.     1881. 

Seven  hundred  and  seventy-eighth  thousand.     1882. 

Seven  hundred  and  ninety-fourth  thousand.     1882. 

Eight  hundred  and  tenth  thousand.     1882. 

Eight  hundred  and  thirty-sixth  thousand.     1883. 

Eight  hundred  and  fifty- third  thousand.     1883. 

Eight  hundred  and  sixty-ninth  thousand.     1884. 

Nine  hundred  and  fourth  thousand.  1884.  [Quotation  from 
Henry  Sutton  discontinued  after  this  edition.] 

Nine  hundred  and  twenty-fourth  thousand.     1884. 

Nine  hundred  and  forty-fourth  thousand.     1885. 

Nine  hundred  and  seventieth  thousand.     1885. 

Nine  hundred  and  ninetieth  thousand.     1885. 

One  million  and  thirtieth  thousand.     1886. 

One  million  and  seventieth  thousand.     1886. 

Proof  of  Jubilee  Edition.     1886,   1887.     [Three  editions.] 

Jubilee  Edition.  The  Phonographic  Teacher  :  a  Guide  to  a 
Practical  Acquaintance  with  the  Art  of  Phonography  or 
Phonetic  Shorthand.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  One  million  and 
one  hundred  thousand.  Isaac  Pitman  &  Sons,  1  Amen 
Corner,  London,  and  Bath.     1887.     [46  pp.] 

One  million  one  hundred  and  thirtieth  thousand.     1887. 

One  million  one  hundred  and  seventieth  thousand.     1887. 

One  million  two  hundredth  thousand.     1888. 

One  million  two  hundred  and  twentieth  thousand.     1888. 

One  million  two  hundred  and  seventieth  thousand.     1888. 

One  million  three  hundred  and  seventieth  thousand.     1889. 

One  million  five  hundred  and  twentieth  thousand.     1890. 

One  million  six  hundredth  thousand.     1891. 

One  million  seven  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1891. 

One  million  eight  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1892-3. 

One  million  nine  hundred  and  fiftieth  thousand.     1894. 

Second  million.     1894. 

Key  to  the  Teacher. 

Key  to  the  "  Phonographic  "  Teacher  and  to  the  "  Exercises  in 
Phonography."  By  Isaac  Pitman.  1874.  6d.  [32  pp.  of 
lithographed  shorthand  and  letterpress  forming  a  key  to  the 
"  Teacher "  exercises  and  to  the  "  Exercises  "  on  the 
"  Manual."] 

Key  to  "  Teacher  "  and  "  Exercises."  1879.  [40  pp.  of  engraved 
shorthand  and  letterpress.]  1880.  1881.  1882.  1883.  1884. 
1885. 

Key  to  the  "  Phonographic  Teacher."  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Jubilee 
Edition.  1887.  6d.  [28  pp.  of  engraved  shorthand  and 
letterpress.]     1888.     1889.     1891.     1892.     1895. 


368  APPENDIX  III 

Teacher  Exercises,  Etc. 

Exercises  in  Phonography  :  A  Series  of  Graduated  Sentence 
Exercises,  illustrating  the  Principles  of  the  Art,  as  Developed 
in  the  "  Phonographic  Teacher."  1890.  Id.  [15  pp.  in 
letterpress.  Compiled  by  G.  H.  Gunston,  with  introduction 
by  Isaac  Pitman.  Also  on  cards.  Numerous  subsequent 
editions.] 

Progressive  Studies  in  Phonography.  A  Simple  and  Extended 
Exposition  of  the  Principles  of  the  Art  of  Phonetic  Shorthand 
as  set  forth  in  "  The  Phonographic  Teacher,"  "  The  Manual 
of  Phonography  "  and  "  The  Reporter,"  intended  for  the  use, 
principally,  of  self-taught  students.  [Fcap.  8vo.  104  pp. 
Edited  by  Isaac  Pitman,  who  contributed  a  preface  ;  the 
compiler  of  the  "  Studies  "  was  T.  A.  Turner.     1884.] 

Subsequent  editions  in  1887,   1888,  1890,  1893. 

Copy  Books. 

Phonographic  Copy-book  (The)  :  designed  to  conduct  the  learner, 
in  three  lessons,  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  principles  and 
practice  of  Phonography,  or  writing  by  sound  ;  a  new  system 
of  shorthand.  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Second  thousand.  1842. 
Price  6d.  [Fcap.  8vo.  16  pp.,  interleaved  with  ruled  paper  ; 
engraved  characters  and  letterpress.] 

Phonographic  Copy-book  (The).  [With  the  phonographic 
alphabet  on  the  cover.]     London  and  Bath.     (1849.) 

Compends. 

Summary  of  Phonography  (A).  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Abstracted 
from  the  "  Manual  of  Phonography."  Small  8vo.  16  pp. 
3d.     1868. 

Compend  of  Phonography.     1862. 

Compendium  of  Phonography  (A),  or  Phonetic  Shorthand, 
containing  the  alphabet,  grammalogues,  and  principal  rules 
for  writing.  By  I.  Pitman.  1864.  One  penny.  [A  folding 
card  of  6  pp.] 

Penny  edition.  For  use  in  schools  and  as  a  pocket  companion. 
A  Compendium  of  Phonography,  or  phonetic  shorthand  ; 
containing  the  alphabet,  grammalogues,  and  principal  rules 
of  writing.     By  Isaac  Pitman.     1865.     [4  pp.] 

Compendium.     1866.     [6  pp.  folding  card.] 

Summary  of  Phonography  (A),  with  the  grammalogues  and 
principal  rules  for  writing.     1868. 

Compend  of  Phonography  (A).     Fiftieth  thousand.     1871, 


APPENDIX   III  369 

Compend  of  Phonography  (A).     Hundredth  thousand.     1874. 
Compend  of  Phonography  (A),  or  Phonetic  Shorthand  ;  containing 

the  alphabet,  grammalogues,  and  principal  rules  for  writing. 

By    Isaac    Pitman.     Hundred    and    thirty-eighth    thousand. 

1880. 
One  hundred  and  seventy-fourth  thousand.     1885. 
One  hundred  and  ninetieth  thousand.     1887. 
Two  hundred  thousand.     1890. 
Two  hundred  and  eighteenth  thousand.     1891. 
Two  hundred  and  twenty-eighth  thousand.     1893. 


Dictionaries. 

Phonographic  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language.     Issued  in  the 

Ipswich  Phono-Press,  Aug.,  1845,  to  Dec,  1846.      [Demy  8vo. 

136  pp.] 
Rough  Draft  of  a  Phonographic  Vocabulary  of  the  most  Common 

Words  in  the   English   Language.       10   May,  1848.       [Fcap. 

8vo.     40  pp.] 
Phonographic    and    Pronouncing    Vocabulary    of    the    English 

Language  (A).     By  Isaac  Pitman.     1850.     [iv.  and  295  pp. 

Fcap.    8vo.,    alternately   lith.    and    letterpress.     Written    in 

accordance  with  the  Eighth  Edition  of  Phonography.] 

Second  edition.  London.  1852.  [8vo.  iv.  and  295  pp. 
Written  in  accordance  with  the  Ninth  Edition.] 

Third  Edition.  By  Isaac  Pitman,  Inventor  of  Phonography,  or 
Phonetic  Shorthand.     1867.     [Demy  16mo.     336  pp.  lith.] 

Draft  of  the  Phonographic  Dictionary.  By  Isaac  Pitman. 
Printed  for  private  circulation.     1869.     [Crown  4to,  32  pp.] 

Phonetic  Shorthand  and  Pronouncing  Dictionary  of  the  English 
Language  (A).  By  Isaac  Pitman,  inventor  of  Phonography, 
a  system  of  Phonetic  Shorthand,  based  on  the  Sounds  of 
Speech  and  the  Science  of  Phonetics.  [Fourth  Edition.] 
1878.  [Crown  8vo.  vi.  and  344  pp.  Engraved  characters 
and  letterpress,  pronunciation  in  phonotypy  and  meanings 
in  ordinary  spelling.] 

Phonetic  Shorthand  and  Pronouncing  Dictionary  of  the  English 
Language  (A).  By  Isaac  Pitman,  inventor  of  Phonography, 
•  a  system  of  Phonetic  Shorthand,  based  on  the  Sounds  of 
Speech  and  the  science  of  Phonetics.  Fifth  edition.  1883. 
[iv.  and  277  pp.,  giving  only  shorthand  forms  with  longhand 
spelling.] 

Also  in  1884. 

Sixth  Edition.     1889.     [iv  and  299  pp.]     1890,  1891,  1894. 

«4—  (M84) 


•v 


370  APPENDIX   III 

History. 

History  of  Shorthand.  In  the  Phonotypic  Journal,  vol.  vi.(  1847, 
pp.  53-58,  213-218,  269-274,  282-292,  317-343,  349-382,  389- 
428  :  including  16  lith.  pp.  of  stenographic  and  phonographic 
alphabets. 

History  of  Shorthand  (A).  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Written  in 
Phonography.     1852.     [8vo.   167  pp.  litho.  shorthand.] 

History  of  Shorthand  (A).  By  Isaac  Pitman.  Reprinted  from 
the  Phonotypic  Journal,  1847.  Second  edition.  (Correspond- 
ing Style.)     1868.     [8vo.     192  pp.  litho.  shorthand.] 

History  of  Shorthand.  Phonetic  Journal,  1884,  pp.  97,  109,  122, 
134,  145,  158,  178,  181,  194,  206,  238,  250,  262,  265,  279,  292, 
304,  and  313. 

History  of  Shorthand  (A),  by  Isaac  Pitman.  Reprinted  from  the 
Phonetic  Journal,  1884.  Third  edition.  [193  pp.  in  letter- 
press, with  litho.  specimens  and  alphabets,  and  preceded  by 
"  A  Brief  Presentation  of  Pitman's  Phonetic  Shorthand," 
xvi  pp.] 

Also  in  1891. 


American  Phonographic  Treatises. — The  following  are  the 
principal  American  authors  who  published  Isaac  Pitman's 
Phonography  in  treatises  bearing  their  names  :  S.  P.  Andrews 
and  A.  F.  Boyle  (1845).  J.  C.  Booth  (1849).  E.  Longley 
(1849).  H.  M.  Parkhurst  (1849).  E.  Webster  (1852).  A.  J. 
Graham  (1854).  Benn  Pitman  (1855).  J.  E.  Munson  (1867). 
Eliza  B.  Burnz  (1870).  C.  Haven  (1875).  W.  W.  Osgoodby 
(1877).  D.  L.  Scott-Browne  (1882).  In  1893  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education  published  a  Circular  of  Informa- 
tion on  Shorthand  which  contained  a  large  amount  of  infOrma- 
ation  as  to  systems  used,  etc.  The  preface  was  contributed 
by  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  Commissioner  of  Education,  who  wrote  : 
"  It  will  be  seen  in  the  chapter  giving  the  statistics  of  instruc- 
tion in  shorthand  in  the  United  States,  that  the  system 
mainly  followed  is  that  of  Isaac  Pitman.  Few  inventors 
within  the  last  two  hundred  years  have  been  so  happy  as  he 
in  discovering  *tTevices  that  have  proved  useful  in  practice 
and  at  the  same  time  called  forth  universal  admiration  for 
their  theoretic  perfection.  ...  It  will  be  seen  by  the 
chronological  lists  of  English  and  American  authors  of  text- 
books that  very  many  systems  have  been  published 
that  are  but  slight  modifications  upon  the  system  of 
Phonography . ' ' 


APPENDIX   III  371 

Foreign  Adaptations  of  Phonography. — The  following 
published  adaptations  of  Phonography  to  the  languages 
mentioned  were  made  by  the  authors  named  during  the 
lifetime  of  Isaac  Pitman,  to  which  period  the  list  is  limited  : 
Bengalee,  D.  N.  Shinghaw  (1892).  Dutch,  F.  de  Haan  (1886). 
French,  P.  Barrue  (1881)  ;  T.A.  Reed.  (1882)  ;  J.  R.  Bruce 
(1888)  ;  T.  Van  den  Bergh  (1892).  German,  C.  L.  Driesslein 
(1886).  Italian,  G.  Francini  (1883).  Japanese,  Minamoto 
Taunanori.  Malagasy,  A.  Tacchi  (1888).  Spanish,  G.  Parody 
(1879).     Welsh,  Rev.  R.  H.  Morgan  (1878). 


II.  BOOKS  IN  SHORTHAND  CHARACTER. 

The  works  mentioned  below  were  produced  from  Isaac  Pitman's 
lithographic  transfers,  except  where  described  as  engraved. 

1844  Phonographic  Reading  Book  (The),  written  in  the  Third 
[Learner's]  Style.     [Crown  8vo.,  24  pp.     See  1857.] 

1844     Key  to  the  Phonographic  Reading  Book  [in  letterpress]. 

1846  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  In  Phonography  written  in  an 
Easy  Style  for  Learners.     [16  pp.] 

1847  Prize  Essay.  Phonographic  Teacher  (The) .  An  Essay  on 
the  Best  Method  of  Teaching  Pitman's  Phonography.  By 
Sunergos  (Corresponding  Style). 

Also  "  Written  in  Accordance  with  the  9th  Edition  " 
(1853).  Third  Edition  (1867).  Fourth  Edition  (1871). 
Subsequent  editions  were  in  letterpress. 

1848  Laura  ;  Edward's  Dream.  By  Miss  A.  A.  Gray.  [Small 
8vo.     48  pp.     Corresponding  Style.] 

1849  New  Testament  (The),  and  Book  of  Psalms  (The).  [Royal 
32  mo.  Corresponding  Style.  Issued  together  and 
separately.] 

Other  editions  of  the  New  Testament  were  issued  by 
Isaac  Pitman  in  1853  (Corresponding  Style)  in  1865 
(Corresponding  Style)  and  1869  (Easy  Reporting  Style). 
The  first  edition  of  the  New  Testament  from  engraved 
shorthand  type,  368pp.  (Easy  Reporting  Style),  appeared 
in  1886. 

1850  Hart's  Orthography,  1569.  [Produced  from  a  copy  in  the 
British  Museum  in  shorthand  and  phonotypy.  Litho. 
78  pp.     Corresponding  Style.] 

1853     Book  of  Psalms  (The).     [Fcap.  8vo,  143  pp.    See  1876.] 


372  APPENDIX   III 

1857  Phonographic  Reader  (The),  a  series  of  Lessons  in  Phonetic 
Shorthand,  Tenth  Edition.  [Fcap.  8vo,  32  pp.  engraved 
shorthand,  Learner's  Style  ;    see  1877.] 

Also  in  1858,  1860,  1862,  1864,  1865,  1867,  1869,  1870, 
and  1871. 

1865  Pentateuch  (The),  or  five  books  of  Moses.  In  Learner's, 
Business,  Corresponding,  and  Reporting  Styles,  each 
opening  of  the  book  displaying  one  style.  [Demy  8vo, 
159  pp.] 

Another  edition  appeared  in  1872. 

1867     Bible  (The  Holy).     In  Corresponding  Style.     [Demy  8vo. 

812  pp.] 

In    1872   The   Old   Testament   was   lithographed   from 

Genesis  i  to  2  Kings  xviii,  25,  and  also  the  New  Testament, 

but    this    edition    was    never   completed,    and    remained 

unpublished. 
1867     Book  of  Common  Prayer   (The).     [Small  8vo.     250  pp. 

Corresponding  Style.] 

In  1869  a  second  edition  appeared   (Fcap.  8vo.).     In 

1887  the  Book  was  printed  in  engraved  shorthand  type, 

Easy  Reporting  Style  [Fcap.  8vo.     296  pp.] 

1867  Dairyman's  Daughter  (The).  By  Legh  Richmond,  M.A- 
[Small  8vo.     96  pp.     Corresponding  Style.] 

1867  Rasselas.  By  Dr.  Johnson.  Fcap.  8vo,  101  pp.  (Report- 
ing Style.) 

1868  Macaulay's  Biographies.  [Small  8vo.  199  pp.  Report- 
ing Style.     126  pp.,   key  in  phonotypy.] 

In  1870  a  Second  Edition  appeared.  [Demy  16mo. 
187  pp.     Reporting  Style.     No  key.] 

1869  Debate  on  the  Irish  Church  Bill  in  the  House  of  Lords 
(The),  June,  1869.  [Fcap.  8vo.  173  pp.  Reporting 
Style,  with  letterpress  key  to  the  introductory  speeches.] 

1869  Diet,  by  Dr.  Lambe  ;  with  a  Preface  and  Notes  by  Edward 
Hare,  C.S.I.     [Small  8 vo.     176  pp.     Corresponding  Style.] 

1869  Church  Services  (The).  [Fcap.  8vo.  592  pp.  Easy 
Reporting  Style.] 

In  1893  an  edition  from  engraved  characters  was  issued. 
Fcap.  8vo.     935  pp. 

1869  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield  :  An  Exercise  in  Phonography,  in 
the  several  styles  of  the  Art,  from  the  Learner's  to  the 
Reporting  Style  ;  to  be  written  by  the  pupil  in  shorthand 
from  a  typic  representation  of  the  shorthand  form  for  each 
word,  by  Isaac  Pitman.  [Fcap.  8vo.  With  a  preface 
containing  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Ball's  appreciation  of  stenotypy] 

In  1891  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield  was  produced  from 
engraved  shorthand,  Corresponding  Style.  [Fcap.  8vo. 
280  pp.] 


^PPENDIX  III  373 

1870  Macaulay's  Essays.  [Demy8vo.  462  pp.  Corresponding 
Style.] 

1871  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Narrative  only  of  the.  [Small  8vo.  84 
pp.     Corresponding  Style.] 

In  1876  an  engraved  edition  was  issued.     [Fcap.  8vo. 
176  pp.     Corresponding  Style.] 

1871  Sexes  Here  and  Hereafter  (The).  By  W.  H.  Holcombc 
M.D.     [Demy  16mo.     155  pp.     Corresponding  Style.] 

1871  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost."  [Small  8vo.  280  pp. 
Corresponding  Style.] 

1872  Heaven    and    its    Wonders.     By    Emanuel    Swedenborg. 
■**»  [Demy     16mo.       xlviii     and     272     pp.        Corresponding 

Style.]  , 

1873  iEsop's  Fables,  in  words  of  one  syllable  printed  in  the 
Learner's  Style  of  Phonography.  [Fcap.  8vo.  48  pp. 
engraved.]     Many  subsequent  issues. 

1875  Self-Culture.  By  J.  S.  Blackie.  [Fcap.  8vo.  92.  pp. 
engraved.]     1882,  -1892. 

1876  Book  of  Psalms  (The).  [Fcap.  8vo.  160  pp.  Corre- 
sponding Style.     Engraved.] 

1876  Selections  No.  1  by  Isaac  Pitman  in  the  Reporting  Style 
of  Phonography  with  Key.  [48  pp.  Engraved.  There 
were  succeeding  issues  in   1885,    1891,   etc.] 

1876  Selections  No.  2.  [48  pp.  .  Engraved.  No  Key.  Also  in 
1881,   1891,  etc.] 

1876  Extracts  No.  1.  In  the  Corresponding  Style  of  Phono- 
graphy by  Isaac  Pitman.     Engraved.     [48  pp.] 

1876     Extracts  No.  2.     [48  pp.]     Also  subsequent  issues. 

1876  Extracts  No.  3.     [52  pp.]     Also  subsequent  issues. 

1877  Phonographic  Reader  (The).  A  Course  of  Reading  Lessons 
in  Phonetic  Shorthand  in  the  Corresponding  Style  with  a 
Key.  [Fcap.  8vo.  New  edition,  with  longhand  key  facing 
the  engraved  shorthand.] 

Many  subsequent  issues. 

1881  Select  Poetry  in  the  Corresponding  Style  by  Isaac  Pitman. 
[47  pp.     Engraved.] 

1883     Selections  No.  3. 

1888  Easy  Readings  in  Phonography.  Printed  in  the  Learner's 
Style  of  Phonography  by  Isaac  Pitman.  Selected  from 
"  Evenings  at  Home  in  Words  of  One  Syllable."  [48  pp.] 
Also  issued  in  1890  and  subsequently.     Engraved. 

Various  other  reprints  were  made  from   the  engraved 
shorthand  of  the  Phonetic  Journal, 


374  APPENDIX   III 

III.     PERIODICALS. 

Phonographic  Journal  {The).  No.  1.  January,  1842.  Price  2d., 
or  3d.  post-paid.  Editor,  Isaac  Pitman,  5  Nelson  Place,  Bath  ; 
Publisher,  Bagster,  15  Paternoster  Row,  London.  Fcap.  8vo. 
8  pp.  lithographed  shorthand.  The  first  number  of  this 
monthly  was  printed  at  Manchester  from  the  transfers  of  Isaac 
Pitman.  It  was  the  first  shorthand  periodical  ever  published 
in  the  character  of  any  system  in  this  country.  In  Vol.  2, 
beginning  January,  1843,  the  size  was  increased  to  crown  8vo., 
and  the  number  of  lithographed  shorthand  pages  to  12.  In 
Vol.  3,  1844,  the  size  was  increased  to  demy  8vo,  8  pp.,  and 
at  the  end  of  this  year  the  periodical  was  discontinued  under 
the  above  title  and  combined  with  the  Phonographic 
Correspondent. 

Phonotypic  Journal  {The).  Conducted  by  I.  Pitman,  Phono- 
graphic Institution,  5  Nelson  Place,  Bath.  Vol.  2,  No.  13, 
January,  1843.  Crown  8vo.  24  pp.  This  was  a  companion 
monthly  periodical  to  the  Phonographic  Journal,  was  num- 
bered to  correspond,  and  printed  in  the  ordinary  type.  The 
first  article,  which  began  as  follows,  explained  its  scope  :  "  The 
title  of  this  Journal  has  been  chosen  prospectively.  We  have 
reason  to  hope  that  the  time  is  not  very  distant,  when  it  will 
be  printed  with  phonotypes.  As  the  primary  aim  of  the 
Phonographic  Journal  will  be  to  attempt  to  introduce  a  quicker 
and  briefer  manner  of  writing  than  the  one  in  common  use  ; 
so,  the  object  of  the  Phonotypic  Journal  will  be  to  attempt 
a  similar  beneficial  change  in  the  usual  mode  of  printing." 
This  periodical  was  enlarged  to  16  pp.,  demy  8vo.  in  Vol.  3, 
beginning  January,  1844,  and  from  this  date  onwards  a  portion 
of  the  contents  consisted  of  phonotypy,  Vol.  6  being  printed 
entirely  in  phonetic  spelling,  and  subsequent  vols,  partially. 
In  December,  1847,  Isaac  Pitman  relinquished  the  editing  and 
publishing  to  Alexander  John  Ellis. 

Phonetic  Journal  {The),  No.  1  January,  1848.  Price  Id.  Mr. 
Ellis  announced  this  as  "  The  successor  to  the  Phonotypic 
Journal.  It  is  the  same  in  size  and  price,  but  it  is  conducted 
by  a  different  editor  on  a  somewhat  different  plan  and  for  a 
somewhat  different  purpose."  Mr.  Ellis  conducted  the 
Journal  throughout  the  year,  and  discontinued  it  in  December, 
on  the  appearance  of  his  Phonetic  News. 

Phonotypic  Journal  {The),  Vol.  8,  March  to  Dec,  1849.  Isaac 
Pitman  re-started  a  new  series  of  the  same  size  as  Mr.  Ellis's 
late  monthly,  with  the  object  of  providing  an  organ  for  the 
,    Phonetic  Society. 

Phonetic  Journal  {The),  Vol.  9,  January,  1850.  From  this  time 
Isaac  Pitman  changed  the  title  to  the  above  as  "  more  con- 
venient and  progressive  "  than  the  old  name.     The  periodical 


APPENDIX   III  375 

was  from  this  date  issued  fortnightly.  On  3rd  January,  1852, 
the  Journal  was  enlarged  and  issued  weekly  at  Id.  under  the 
style  of 

Phonetic  Journal  (The),  "  To  read  and  write  comes  by  nature." — 
Shakspere.  London  :  Fred.  Pitman,  Phonetic  depot,  20 
Paternoster  row.  [4 to.  8  pp.]  To  Vol.  xii.,  1853  was  added  : 
"  Conducted  by  Isaac  Pitman,  Phonetic  Institution,  Bath," 
and  the  Shaksperean  motto  was  left  out.  With  Vol.  xiv., 
1855,  each  number  was  increased  to  12  pp.  l£d.  A  series 
of  full-paged  lithographed  specimens  of  Phonography  com- 
menced with  the  number  for  5th  January,  1861  (Vol.  xx.), 
and  16  pp.  were  given  per  number.  2d.  The  lith.  specimens 
ceased  soon  after,  but  shorthand  supplements  were  given 
instead,  and  in  1866  the  price  was  increased  to  3d.  On  4th 
January,  1873,  a  new  series  was  started,  entitled 

Phonetic  Journal  (The)  :  Published  weekly.  Devoted  to  the 
Propagation  of  Phonetic  Shorthand,  and  Phonetic  Writing, 
Reading,  and  Printing.  No.  1,  Vol.  xxxii.  New  series,  Id. 
[4 to.  8  pp.]  Two  pages  were  given  of  specimens  of  Phono- 
graphy from  engraved  type.  In  1875  (Vol.  xxxiv.),  the  size 
was  increased  to  12  pp.,  and  4  pp.  cover,  four  pages  being 
occupied  with  engraved  shorthand.  At  the  commencement  of 
1887  (Vol.  xlvi.),  the  magazine  had  the  following  title  and 
description  : — 

Phonetic  Journal  (The).  Published  weekly.  Devoted  to  the 
propagation  of  Pitman's  Shorthand  (Phonography),  and 
Phonetic  Reading,  Writing,  and  Printing.  Printed  by  Isaac 
Pitman  &  Sons,  at  the  Phonetic  Institute,  Kingston  buildings, 
Bath  ;  and  published  at  their  Phonetic  depot,  1  Amen  Corner, 
Paternoster  row,  London.  [4to.  16  pp.,  including  cover.] 
In  January,  1888,  the  number  of  shorthand  pages  was  in- 
creased to  five.  At  the  commencement  of  1891  the  size  of  the 
Journal  was  increased  to  24  pp.,  and  soon  afterwards  six  pages 
of  shorthand  were  given  weekly.  The  whole  of  the  above  series 
of  periodicals  were  edited  by  Isaac  Pitman,  with  the  exception 
of  Vol.  vii.  (1848),  the  first  which  was  called  the  Phonetic 
Journal,  his  editorship  extending  for  a  period  of  fifty-two 
years  down  to  his  retirement  in  1894. 

Phonographic  Correspondent  (The),  No.  1,  January,  1844.  3d. 
monthly,  demy  8vo.  8  pp.  of  lithographed  shorthand.  From 
April,  1844,  this  periodical  bore  the  title  of  the  Phonographic 
Correspondent  and  Reporter.  During  1845  it  was  the  Phono- 
graphic Correspondent  ;  in  1846  and  Reporter  was  added.  In 
January,  1847,  the  title  was  altered  to  the  Phonographic 
Correspondent  only,  and  the  size  reduced  to  a  small  8vo  of 
16  pp.  At  this  date  the  portion  entitled  Reporter  became 
The  Reporters'  Magazine,  called  "  Vol.  4,  No.  37,"  and  at  the 
same  time  there  was  started  a  new  series  of 


376  APPENDIX    III 

Phonographic  Correspondent  (The).  Edited  by  Isaac  Pitman,  and 
written  in  the  First  or  Corresponding  Style  (also  called  Vol. 
iv.,  No.  37.)  Price  2d.  F.  Pitman,  London.  [16  mo.  16  pp.]. 
This  gradually  became  illustrated.  The  periodical  was  dis- 
continued at  the  end  of  1858. 

Phonographic  Correspondent  (The).  A  supplement  to  the  Phonetic 
Journal,  edited  and  lithographed  by  Isaac  Pitman.  No.  1, 
January  7,  1871,  16  mo.  16  pp.  In  an  introductory  notice 
Isaac  Pitman  mentioned  that  "  During  the  last  seven  years 
the  shorthand  supplement  to  the  Phonetic  Journal  has  with 
one  exception  consisted  of  a  sheet  of  some  book.  .  .  .  Our 
reasons  for  issuing  these  books  thus  at  the  rate  of  a  sheet  per 
week,  instead  of  a  shorthand  periodical  of  miscellaneous 
subjects,  was  that  some  standard  books  in  shorthand  for  read- 
ing practice  were  much  wanted,  and  we  could  not  lithograph 
both  the  books  and  the  periodical.  We  have  now  secured  the 
assistance  of  a  shorthand  lithographic  writer  who  will  renew 
most  of  these  books  (many  of  which  are  already  out  of  print), 
and  execute  others,  thus  leaving  us  at  liberty  to  write  a 
weekly  sheet  of  miscellaneous  matter  under  the  revived  title 
of  the  Phonographic  Correspondent."  This  periodical  was 
discontinued  at  the  end  of  June,   1871. 

Reporters1  Magazine  (The).  Conducted  by  Isaac  Pitman,  Bath. 
Vol.  4,  No.  37,  January,  1847.  3d.  Small  8vo.  16  pp. 
lithographed  shorthand.  This  was  a  new  series  of  the  Reporter 
portion  of  the  Correspondent,  and  was  continued  by  Isaac 
Pitman  down  to  the  end  of  1848.  It  was  "  intended  only  for 
the  perusal  of  advanced  phonographers."  At  the  beginning 
of  1849  the  title  was  altered  to  that  of  the  Phonographic 
Reporter,  and  the  periodical  was  edited  and  lithographed  for 
the  future  by  Thomas  Allen  Reed. 

Ipswich  Phono-Press  (The).  No.  1.  August,  1845.  3d.  Demy 
8vo.  8  pp.  of  lithographed  shorthand  and  8  pp.  of  shorthand 
dictionary  in  each  number.  Edited  by  John  King  to  Dec, 
1845,  when  Isaac  Pitman  (who  wrote  the  transfers  throughout) , 
took  up  the  editorship.  The  last  number  appeared  in 
December,  1846.  With  it  was  issued  a  notice  that  a  new 
series  of  monthly  phonographic  periodicals  would  commence 
in  the  following  year,  namely,  the  Phonographic  Star  (Learner's 
Style),  Phonographic  Correspondent  (Corresponding  Style),  and 
Reporters'  Magazine  (Reporting  Style). 

Phonographic  Star  (The).  Conducted  by  John  Newby,  Friends' 
School,  Ackworth,  Wakefield.  [A  large  phonographic  star  is 
here  displayed.]  Published  by  C.  Gilpin,  5  Bishopsgate  street 
Without,   London  ;    afterwards  by  Isaac  Pitman,   5  Nelson 


APPENDIX   III  377 

place,  Bath,  and  Queen's  Head  passage,  London.  Price  2d. 
No.  1,  March,  1844.  [Small  8vo.  8  pp.  monthly.]  In  the 
number  issued  December,  1846,  the  Editor  announced  that 
"  He  bequeaths  its  name  to  a  new  periodical  about  to  be 
commenced  by  Isaac  Pitman." 

Phonographic  Star  {The),  New  Series,  demy  16  mo.  January, 
1847.  16  pp.  Conducted  by  Isaac  Pitman,  and  written  in 
the  First  Style  of  Phonography.  At  the  end  of  the  issue  for 
December,  1851,  appeared  a  notice  stating  that  "With  this 
number  closes  the  Phonographic  Star.  So  many  duties  devolve 
upon  the  Editor,  who  is  also  the  lithographer,  that  he  finds 
it  necessary  to  relinquish  this  for  some  other  engagement 
which  would  be  of  greater  service  to  the  cause  of  the  Writing 
and  Printing  Reform. 

Phonographic  Magazine  {The).  No.  1,  January,  1849.  Small  8vo. 
Price  2d.  Conducted  by  Isaac  Pitman,  Bath.  Written  in  an 
Easy  Reporting  Style  "  at  the  rate  of  100  words  a  minute." 
The  last  number  appeared  December,  1851.  Isaac  Pitman 
announced  that  he  "is  compelled  to  decline  the  work  solely  on 
account  of  his  increasing  labours  in  connection  with  the 
extension  of  Phonetic  Writing  and  Printing,  and  inability  to 
procure  an  assistant  who  combines  the  requisites  of  a  good 
phonographer  and  a  good  lithographer." 

Precursor  {The).  Published  by  Isaac  Pitman  for  private  circula- 
tion among  members  of  the  Phonetic  Council.  Demy  8vo. 
8  pp.  lithographed  shorthand.  Issued  at  irregular  intervals 
from  7th  October,  1844.  The  copy,  No.  12,  October  22,  1846, 
is  described  as  "  the  last  number  of  the  present  issue." 
Revived  in  1850  and  1851  and  later. 

Phonographer  {The).  January,  1851.  Demy  16  mo.  16  pp. 
"  Devoted  to  the  solution  of  the  problem — to  find  the  easiest 
way  of  writing  legibly  every  word  of  the  English  language 
on  the  basis  of  the  phonetic  alphabet."  It  was  printed  for 
private  circulation  and  sold  at  cost  price,  2s.  per  annum. 
Issued  irregularly.     Discontinued  in  December,  1860. 

Reporting  Magazine  {The).  Vol.  1,  Jan.  to  April,  1864.  16  mo., 
lithographed  shorthand.  The  work  terminated  with  the 
number  for  December,  1864,  which  closed  Vol.  2. 

Speler  {The).  Conducted  by  Sir  Isaac  Pitman,  Bath.  Vol.  1, 
No.  1,  January,  1895.  Monthly,  £d.  Crown  8vo.  8  pp. 
Printed  in  the  First  Stage  of  the  Spelling  Reform.  Engraved 
shorthand  reading  matter  introduced  in   No.    10,    October, 

1895.  Vol.   1  was  completed  with  the  issue  for  December, 

1896.  The  last  number  was  that  for  January,  1897. 


378  APPENDIX   III 

IV.  SPELLING  REFORM  TRACTS. 
The  orthographic  reform,  to  the  advocacy  of  which  Isaac  Pitman 
devoted  so  large  a  portion  of  his  life,  was  chiefly  promoted  by 
means  of  leaflets  and  pamphlets  ;  a  great  variety  appeared,  and 
these  were  circulated  in  millions.  They  were  known  as  "  Spelling 
Reform  tracts,"  and  usually  exhibited  the  phonetic  alphabet 
with  some  explanatory  matter,  as  an  introduction  to  the  essay  or 
article  advocating  the  reform.  No  attempt  is  here  made  to  give 
a  list  of  such  publications. 


V.     BOOKS    IN    REFORMED    SPELLING. 
Arranged    according   to   date   of   publication.     Except   where 
otherwise  stated  the  books  were  printed  in  full  phonotypy. 

1846     Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost." 

1849     The  Book  of  Psalms   (Authorized  Version). 

1849  Book  of  Proverbs   (A.V.). 

1850  The    Holy    Bible    (A.V.).     [Demy    8vo.     O.T.     580    pp., 
N.T.    164  pp.    There  were  apparently  two  distinct  issues.] 

1850  The  Psalms  of  David  in  Metre  (allowed  by  the  authority 

of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland). 

1850  A  Thousand  Gems  of  Thought. 

1850  Longfellow's  "Evangeline." 

1850  The  Bath  Fables,  by  the  Rev.  Sheridan  Wilson. 

1853  Daily  Bread  from  the  Word  of  God. 

1853  St.  Luke's  Gospel.     Also  a  smaller  edition  in  1856. 

1855  Lucy's  Temptation. 

1855  Outlines  of  Astronomy. 

1856  An  English  Grammar  printed  phonetically. 
1856  St.  Luke's  Gospel  in  Mikmak. 

1856  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  Mikmak. 

1857  Tomi  Plouman. 

1857     The  Book  of  Genesis  in  Mikmak. 

1859  The  Book  of  Psalms  in  Mikmak. 

1860  A  Triple  (twelve  gross)  Gems  of  Wisdom,  on  Moral  and 
Spiritual  subjects. 

1868     The  Trial  of  William  Rodger. 

1870     A  Rhymed  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  by  Francis  Barham 
and  Isaac  Pitman  (second  edition  published  subsequently) . 

1870  The   Writings   of   Solomon,    etc.,    translated   by    Francis 
Barham. 

1871  The  Other  Life,  by  William  H.  Holcombe,  M.D. 

1871     Our  Children  in  Heaven,  by  William  H.  Holcombe,  M.D. 
1871     Conversations  on  the  Parables  of  the  New  Testament,  by 
Edward,  Lord  Stanley. 

1871  The  Wonderful  Pocket  and  Other  Stories,  by  Chauncey 
Giles. 

1872  The  Game  of  the  Chesse  (Second  Edition). 


APPENDIX   III  379 

1873  A  Memorial  of  Francis  Barham,  edited  by  Isaac  Pitman. 
Plea  for  Spelling  Reform  (A),  Volume  of  tracts  edited  by 
Isaac  Pitman. 

1878  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  the  Spiritual  Columbus.  (First 
Stage.) 

1879  A  Comprehensive  Grammar  of  the  English  Language. 

1879  Boys  of  Other  Countries,  by  Bayard  Taylor. 

Susan's  Return  to  Her  Old  Home,  by  Katherine  M.  A. 
Cooper. 

1880  Literary  Ladder  (The).     By  A.  A.  Reade.     (First  Stage.) 

1880  The  Vale  of  Brukli.     (First  Stage.) 

1881  Gospel  Epic  (The),  by  Francis  Barham  and  Isaac  Pitman. 
Second  edition. 

1882  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Rev.  J.  Clowes.    (First  Stage.) 

1883  Gladys,  or  The  Story  of  Penbirth.     (First  Stage.) 

1884  The  Squire  of  Ingleburn,  and  what  he  did  with  the  Lawson 
Arms,  by  R.  Bailey  Walker.     (First  Stage.) 

1884  The  Testimony  of  Jesus,  by  David  Bailey.  (First  Stage.) 
Tales  the  Woods  Tell.     (First  Stage.) 

1887-8     Phonetic  Readers.     First,  Second,  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth. 

1892  The  New  Testament  (Revised  Version)  with  the  readings 
recommended  by  the  American  Revision  Company  incorpo- 
rated in  the  text.  [This  edition  contains  a  preface  by  Isaac 
Pitman  which  states  that  "  Bishop  Taylor,  of  the  American 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  superintends  above  a  dozen 
mission  stations,  with  schools,  on  the  Congo,  and  teaches 
the  natives  the  English  language  by  means  of  Phonetic 
Reading  Books.  A  very  large  supply  of  this  edition  of 
the  New  Testament  has  been  sent  to  him  for  use  in  the 
schools."  This  was  the  last  book  printed  in  full  phono- 
typy.  The  type  was  set  at  Bath  by  an  American  missionary 
under  the  supervision  of  Isaac  Pitman.  Crown  8vo. 
436  pp.] 

1895  Wesley  and  Swedenborg.  Two  Essays  by  Two  Clergymen, 
American  and  English,  on  the  two  greatest  religious  men 
of  the  last  century,  with  an  introduction  by  Sir  Isaac 
Pitman.       [Fcap.  8vo.      Printed  in  First  Stage. 

1895  Reminiscences  of  the  Early  Life  of  Sir  Isaac  Pitman.  [This 
work  consists  of  a  reprint  of  the  correspondence  in  the 
Intellectual  Repository  of  1836  relating  to  the  author's 
acceptance  of  the  doctrines  of  Swedenborg.  It  has  a 
preface  by  Sir  Isaac  Pitman  dated  Bath,  October,  1895. 
Fcap.  8vo.     Printed  in  First  Stage.] 


(It  has  not  been  found  possible  to  include  in  the  above 
Bibliography  notices  of  an  almost  innumerable  number  of  small 
productions  and  contributions  by  Sir  Isaac  Pitman  to  books  and 
periodicals.) 


INDEX 


Alist  Francis  Barham,   180 

Andrews  S.  P.,  first  acquaintance 
with  Phonography,  87  ;  intro- 
duces it  at  Boston,  U.S.A.,  87  ; 
Isaac  Pitman  supports  his 
efforts,  88  ;  reference  to  in 
American  address,   269 

Angus  Dr.,   211 

Armstrong  Sir  W.,  159 

Art  Journal,  294,  315 

Ashby  Rev.  J.,  328 

Austin  E.,  review  of  Phonography, 
65 

Australian  address  to  Isaac 
Pitman,  319 

Axon  W.  E.  A.,  266 

Bagster  S.  and  "  Comprehensive 
Bible,"  20-23;  suggests  pre- 
paration of  new  system  of 
shorthand  to  Isaac  Pitman,  33  ; 
publishes  "  Stenographic  Sound - 
Hand,"  43 ;  and  the  title 
"  Phonography,"  46  ;  verses  on 
Phonography,  52,  80  ;  transfers 
phonographic  publishing  to 
1  Queen's  Head  Passage,  97 

Bailey  J.  E.,  204 

Ball  Rev.  W.  J.  makes  proposals 
for  the  improvement  of  Phono- 
graphy, 188 ;  discussed  in 
Phonetic  Journal,  190 

Barham,  F.  F.,  179  ;  "  Rhymed 
Harmony  of  the  Gospels,"  180  ; 
the  Alist,  180  ;  "  Memorial  "  of 
by  Isaac  Pitman,  181  ;  drama 
of  "  Socrates,"  181 

Barkas  T.  P.,  74 

Barton  Bernard,  satire  on  Phono- 
graphy, 91 

Bath  Temperance  Society,  302 

Bell  A.  M.,  "  Visible  Speech  "  of, 
174 

Bell  G.,    175 

Besley  R. ,  (type  founder) ,  criticizes 
early  phonotypy,  151 


Bickersteth  Rev.   E.,   93,   314 

Boyle  A.  F.,  269 

Bridge  Professor,   260 

Bright  John,  speech  on  Phono- 
graphy, 81 

Bright  Timothy,  tercentenary  of 
his  system,   246 

British  Association  at  Newcastle, 
159  ;   at  Bath,  160,  277 

British  Phonetic  Council,  116,  175 

British  Phonetic  Union,   131 

Brock  T.,  255 

Brooke  H.  S.,  75 

Burnz  Eliza  B.,  270 

Bury  Viscount,  learns  Phonogra- 
phy, 274  ;  at  the  inauguration 
of  the  National  Phonographic 
Society,  281 

Butter  worth  J.,   170 

Byrne  Rev.  J.  R.,  213 

Byrom's  shorthand,  32 


Candy  F.  J.,  124 

Carson  F.,  75 

Cassell  J.  and  shorthand  lessons 
for  ''Popular  Educator,"   114 

Cassell,  Petter  &  Galpin,  ditto,  115 

Cayley  C.  B.,   127 

Chambers  W.  and  R.  and  Phono- 
graphy, 65,  92 

Christian  World  description  of 
Isaac  Pitman  at  Exeter  Hall, 
241 

Clark  Mrs.  and  Phonography,  82 

Clarke  James,  75 

Cologne  Gazette,  330 

Coltman  J.  and  Phonetic  Institute 
Building  Fund,  195  ;  contribu- 
tion to  spelling  reform,  205 

Conigree  Chapel,  305 

Crabbe  Rev.  G.,  the  poet,  4 

Crompton  Dr.  S.,  204 

Croxton  A.  W.,  266 

Crump  F.  O.,  260,  261 

Cur  wen  Rev.  J.,  215 


381 


382 


INDEX 


Dallinger  J.,  replies  to  B.  Barton, 

92 
Darton  Eliza,  14 
Davis  Maria,  1 
Dawson  G.,  on  Phonography,  103  ; 

President  of  Phonetic  Society, 

120 
De  Haan  F.,  276 
Dixon  William  Hepworth,  75 
Dreinhofer  Dr.,  260 
Drummond  Rev.  Gordon,  326,  328 
Dutch  Phonography,  276 

Edinburgh,  Isaac  Pitman's  visits 
to,  64,  175,  234 

Edmunds  G.,  79 

Ellis  Alexander  John,  first  letter 
to  Isaac  Pitman,  84  ;  contribu- 
tion on  phonetic  spelling,  98  ; 
"  The  Alphabet  of  Nature  "  by, 
99  ;  "A  Plea  for  Phonotypy 
and  Phonography,  or  Speech- 
Writing,"  99  ;  agreement  with 
Isaac  Pitman  on  1847  phono- 
typic  alphabet,  99  ;  residence 
in  Bath,  100 ;  issues  the 
Phonetic  Journal,  100 ;  es- 
tablishes printing  office  at  Al- 
bion Place,  Bath,  101  ;  history 
of  the  phonetic  movement,  101  ; 
produces  Phonetic  News,  104  ; 
tribute  to  Isaac  and  Benn 
Pitman  and  George  Withers, 
108 ;  publishes  Spelling  Re- 
former, 108  ;  illness  of,  108  ; 
his  phonetic  type  destroyed  by 
fire,  110;  statement  in  the 
Press  on  the  loss  over  the 
Phonetic  News,  111  ;  corre- 
spondence with  Isaac  Pitman 
on  Presidency  of  the  Phonetic 
Society,  120 ;  Max-Muller's 
testimony  to,  207  ;  member  of 
deputation  to  Government  on 
spelling  reform,  216 

English  Review,  quotation  from, 
186 

Evercirculator,  the  first,  94 

Everitt  J.  D.,  220 

Exeter  Hall ,  soiree  at ,  in  1 85 1 , 1 1 3 ; 
authorities  view  spelling  re- 
form movement  with  suspicion, 
114  ;  Isaac  Pitman  lectures  at 
in  1885,  241 


Falknhr  G.,  76 

Faraday  Rev.  A.,  328 

Field  G.,  305 

Figgins  V.  and  J.,  produce  first 
phonotypic  fount,  84  ;  produce 
shorthand  fount,  184 

Francini  Giuseppe,  adapts  Phono- 
graphy to  the  Italian  language, 
232 

Freeman  H.  W.,  271 

French  Phonography,  232 

Gahagan  C,  131 

Gantter  Dr.,  260 

Gawtress    W.,    eulogy    on    short  - 

hand,  32 
Gladstone  Dr.   J.   H.,   211,   216; 

description   of    Isaac    Pitman's 

system,   253,   255 
Gladstone    W.    E.,    and    spelling 

reform,  229,  230 
Glasgow,  Isaac  Pitman's  visits  to, 

69,  284 
Gowers  Sir  W.,  282 
Graham's  "  system,"   178 
Graphophonomachia  :   The  Battle 

of  the  Signs  and  Sounds,  222 
Gray  Dr.,  288 

Great  Exhibition  of  1851,    112 
Griffin  J.  and  price  of  books,  231 
Gurney-Salter  W.  H.,  249,  260 

Hale  Rev.  E.  Everitt,  330 

Hall  S.  C.  and  Mrs.,  304 

Hanson  Sir  Reginald,  263 

Harbutt  Mrs.  paints  miniature  of 
Isaac  Pitman,  267 

Harbutt  W.,  267 

Harland  John,  tribute  to  Phono- 
graphy, 82,   145 

Harris  Dr.  W.  T.,  370 

Harrison  Sir  George,  235 

Harwood  Alderman   J.   J.,  265 

Haywood  G.   R.,   75 

Healy,  Timothy  M.,  M.P.,  200 

Hill  Sir  Rowland,  and  Phono- 
graphy, 93 

Hill  Thomas,  239 

Hill  Dr.  Thomas  (Harvard 
University),  316 

Hill  T.  W.,  78 

Hine  T.,  237 

Holgate  Mary,  23 


INDEX 


383 


Holyoake  G.   J.,   presentation  to 

by  Isaac  Pitman,  29 
Hornsby  J.,  75 
Hudson  Rev.  Joseph,  19 
Hunt  W.,  118 

International  Shorthand  Con- 
gress, London,  1887,  248  ;  Earl 
of  Rosebery's  speech  at,  250  ; 
newspaper  reports  of  the  pro- 
ceedings, 252  ;  exhibition  of 
shorthand  books  and  manu- 
scripts, 252  ;  phonographic 
celebration  at,  253  ;  paper  by 
Isaac  Pitman  on  "  The  Genesis 
of  Phonography,"  36,  254  ; 
Congress  dinner,  261  ;  "  Biblio- 
graphy of  Shorthand,"  265  ; 
"  Transactions,"  265 
Ipswich  Phonographic  Soiree,  95 
Ipswich  Phono-Press,  103 
Italian   Phonography,   232 

Jerrold    Douglas     and    spelling 

reform,   105 
Jones  Edward,  179,  207,  210,  213, 

216,  230 

Keene  James,  New  Church  min- 
ister and  editor  of  Bath  Journal, 

Keene  Colonel  J.  B.,  paints 
portrait  of  Isaac  Pitman,  89 

Keith-Falconer  Hon.  Ion,  200,  239 

Kelvin  Lord,  and  Phonography, 
70 

King  J.,  82 

Kingston  House,  Bradford-on- 
Avon,  25 

Laverton     Charles,      accidental 

death  of,  31 
Laverton  family,   31 
Lawson  J.  B.,  260 
Lawson  Sir  Wilfrid,  302 
Lewis  William,  199 
Literary  World,  332 
Lloyd  J.  R.,  170 

"  Macaulay's  Essays  "  in  Phono- 
graphy, 203 
Mackillop  C.  W.,  303 
Malagasy  Phonography,  276 
Manchester,  Isaac  Pitman's  visits 
to,  55,  135,  178,  203,  266 


Martin  Dr.  J.  W.,  experiments  in 
teaching  reading  by  phonotypic 
books,  210 

Masters  Isabella,   143 

Mathew  Mr.  Justice,  judgment  in 
copyright  action,   239 

Max-Muller  F.,  first  letter  to  Isaac 
Pitman,  140  ;  reference  to 
phonotypy  in  lectures  on  the 
"  Science  of  Language,"  141  ; 
Fortnightly  Review  article  on 
spelling  reform,  205 ;  Presi- 
dent of  Phonetic  Society,  220  ; 
entertains  Isaac  Pitman  at 
Oxford,  220 

McGillicuddy  T.,  270 

Melson  Dr.,  78 

Michaelis  Dr.,  257 

Mikmak  books  in  phonetic  print- 
ing,  142 

Miner  E.  N.,  268 

Mogford  J.  H.,  75 

Montgomery  James,  poem  on 
Phonography,  90 

Moore  J.  C,  200,  260 

Moore  Thomas,  304 

Morgan  Rev.  R.  H.,  203 

Morris  J.  W.,  302,  325 

Munson  J.  E.,  270 

Murch  Sir  Jerom,  271,  298 

Murray  Dr.,  adoption  of  three 
phonotypic  characters  in  "  Ox- 
ford English  Dictionary,"  229  ; 
and  spelling  reform,   229 

Nankivell  E.  J.,  282 

National    Phonographic    Society, 

280 
National    Society    of    Shorthand 

Teachers,   299 
New  Miss,  teaches  Pitman  family,  9 
New  York  branch,  283 

"Oxford  English  Dictionary," 
and  phonotypy,  229 

Pagliardini  Signor  Tito,   215 
Palmer  H.  J.,   194: 
Parker  J.  A.,  204 
Paterson  A., 
Paul  Thomas,   176 
Percival  Dr.,  280 
Perkins  Rev.   B.   R.,   27 
Phonetic  Alphabet  of  1876,  208 


384 


INDEX 


Phonetic  Institute,  the  first,  73  ; 
the  second,  111  ;  the  third, 
122  ;  the  fourth,  196  ;  the  fifth, 
276 

Phonetic  Journal  first  issued  with 
this  title  (1848),  100;  new  series 
of  (1873),  187  ;  Jubilee  of,  283 

Phonetic  News,  first  appearance 
of,  104  ;  prohibitive  price  of, 
106  ;    discontinuance  of,   107 

Phonetic  Society,  the,  107  ; 
George  Dawson  President,  120 ; 
votes  on  vowel  scale,  128  ;  Sir 
W.  Trevelyan  President,  139  ; 
re -organization  in  1875,  200  ; 
members  given  teacher's  quali- 
fication, 201  ;  Max-Miiller 
President,  220 ;  teacher's  quali- 
fication withdrawn,  220  ; 
Jubilee  list  of  members,  290  ; 
dissolution  of,  290 

Phonographic  Alliance,  134 

Phonographic  alphabet  "  accord- 
ing to  nature,"  38 

Phonographic  consonants,  selec- 
tion of  forms  for,  37 

Phonographic  Corresponding  So- 
ciety, 75  ;  first  list  of  members, 
76 ;  phonographic  ability  a 
qualification  of  membership, 
94  ;  converted  into  Phonetic 
Society,  107 

Phonographic  Dictionary,  103, 
168,  202 

Phonographic  festivals  :  Man- 
chester, 76  ;  Nottingham,  77  ; 
Birmingham,   78 

Phonographic  Journal,  No.    1,  66 

Phonographic  Jubilee  :  proceed- 
ings at  -the  celebration,  253  ; 
American  gold  medal  and  ad- 
dress, 268 ;  Canadian  celebra- 
tion, 270 

"  Phonographic  Teacher,"  first 
million,  243;  second  million,  299 

Phonographic  travelling  lecturers, 
estimate    of    their    work,     116 

"  Phonography,"  by  John  Jones, 
M.D.,  46 

Phonography,  genesis  of  Isaac 
Pitman's  system  of,  36  ;  first 
"  Manual  "  of,  71  ;  at  Anti- 
Corn  Law  Bazaar,  88  ;  Seventh 
Edition  of,   95  ;   bronze  medal 


awarded    to  at   Great    Exhibi- 
tion of  1851,  112  ;  copyright  of, 
114,    237;     Ninth    Edition   of, 
126  ;    Tenth   Edition   of,    128  ; 
American  objections  to  Tenth 
Edition,     132  ;      quarter    of    a 
century    of,     144  ;     Society    of 
Arts     and,      164  ;       Rev.     Dr. 
Parker    on,    179 ;     Dr.    Pank- 
hurst  on,  179  ;    postal  teaching 
of,     182,     188 ;     printed    from 
movable    type    and    engraved 
characters,    184  ;    silver   medal 
awarded  to  at  Health  Exhibi- 
tion,   1884,    234  ;     gold    medal 
awarded  to  at  Edinburgh  Inter- 
national Exhibition,  237  ;  Jubi- 
lee of,  245  ;    at  Rugby  School, 
280 ;      and    phrenology,     313  ; 
proposed     changes     in,      322  ; 
universality  of,   330  ;  evolution 
of,  333  ;    bibliography  of,  355  ; 
American  adaptations  of^370  ; 
foreign  adaptations  of,  ^371  / 
Phonography,  foreign  adaptations 
of :     Spanish,      164  ;      French, 
232  ;    Italian,   232  ;    Malagasy, 
276 ;     Dutch,    276 ;     German, 
Chinese,     Japanese,     Bengalee, 
291  ;    Welsh  adaptation,   203 
Pitman  (Abraham),  15 
Pitman  (Alfred),  176,  243 
Pitman  (Benjamin  or  Benn),  6,  8, 
15,    24,    34  ;     learns    "  Steno- 
graphic     Sound -Hand,"      42  ; 
phonographic  lecturer,  72  ;    be- 
comes  London   publisher,    97  ; 
retires  from  lecturing,  116,  117  ; 
goes  to  America,    116;   objec- 
tions to  Tenth  Edition,  132  ;  316 
Pitman    (Clarence),   255,    283 
Pitman   (Ernest),   176,  243 
Pitman    (Frederick),    15  ;     begins 
lecturing,  75  ;  takes  up  publish- 
ing, 98,  118  ;   appointed  Society 
of  Arts  examiner  in  shorthand, 
164  ;       reluctance      to      adopt 
phonographic       improvements, 
167  ;  edits  Shorthand  Magazine, 
170  ;    216  ;    death  of,  243 
Pitman  (Guilbert),  255 
Pitman   (Harry),  255 
Pitman      (Henry),      15 ;       learns 
"  Stenographic    Sound -Hand," 


INDEX 


385 


24  ;    42  ;    begins  lecturing,  75  ; 

settlement  at  Manchester,  117  ; 

179,  229,  255,  266,  315 
Pitman,  Isaac,  birth  of,  at  Trow- 
bridge,  1,  6 

horoscope  of,  3 

baptism,  4 

Sunday  School  teacher,  4 

youthful  characteristics,  6 

school  days  of,  7 

clerk  to  Mr.  Edgell,  8 

home  studies,  8-12 

and  Isaac  Watts 's  works,  9 

and  music,  9,   18,  305-307 

and  "  Lennie's  Grammar,"  10 

and  "Spectator"  and  "  Iliad,"  10 

memorizes  poetry,  Scripture, 
and  Greek  grammar,  1 1 

love  of  "  Paradise  Lost,"  12 

study  of  "  Walker's  Diction- 
ary," 12 

mastery  of  Taylor's  shorthand, 
13,  31 

clerk  to  his  father,  13 

becomes  a  British  School 
teacher,   13 

at  Borough  Road  College,  14 

master  of  British  school,  Bar- 
ton-on-Humber,   16,   17 

private  accounts  kept  at  Bar- 
ton,  16 

flute  accompaniment  to  drill,  18 

lectures  on  astronomy,    18 

temperance  society  work,  be- 
comes abstainer,   18-28 

admitted  into       Wesleyan 

Methodist     Society     and     a 
circuit  preacher,    19 

Bagster's  Comprehensive 

Bible  "      and      revision      of 
references,  20-23,  28,  34 

first  marriage,  23 

appointment  as  master  of 
British  school, Wotton-under- 
Edge,  24 

success  of  school,   25-26 

meeting  with  J.  K.  Bragge  and 
discussion  on  writings  of 
Swedenborg,    26 

accepts  Swedenborg 's  revela- 
tion, 27 

ejection    from    Wesleyan    com- 
munion   and    dismissal    from 
school  mastership,  27 
25— (2284) 


Pitman,    Isaac,   attends  Wotton 

parish  church,  27 

adopts  vegetarian  diet,  28 

presentation  to  G.  J.  Holyoake 
at  Birmingham,  29 

opens  private  school  at  Wotton, 
30 

gives  instruction  in  shorthand, 
30 

his  shorthand  letter  book,  30 

studies  with  his  cousin  Charles 
Laverton,  31 

prepares  a  text -book  of  Taylor's 
system,  32 

is  advised  to  invent  a  new 
system,  33 

beginning  of  shorthand  author- 
ship, 34 

devises  a  vowel  scale,  35 

consonant  alphabet,  36 

publication  of  "  Stenographic 
Sound-Hand,"  41,  355 

settlement  in  Bath,  his  opinion 
of  the  city,  44 

residence  and  school  at  Nelson 
Place,  45 

visits  Samuel  Bagster  at  Old 
Windsor,  the  title  "  Phono- 
graphy "  adopted,   46 

reception  of  "  Stenographic 
Sound-Hand,"  47 

comparison  with  previous 
systems,  48 

teaches  a  phonographic  class,  48 

competes  for  Government  prize 
relative  to  penny  postage,  48 

Phonographic  Penny  Plate,  de- 
sign of,  49  ;  engraving  of,  51 

Second  Edition  of  the  system, 
51 

begins  phonographic  propa- 
ganda, 53 

gives  lessons  gratuitously,  53,  54 

Third  Edition  of  the  system,  54 

first  lecturing  tour,  54 

first  visit  to  Manchester,  55 

letter  to  the  Manchester  news- 
papers,  56 

controversy  with  P.  B.  Temple- 
ton,  56 

writes  a  Greek  sentence  from 
dictation,  63 

second  lecturing  tour,  63 

first  visit  to  Edinburgh,  64 


386 


INDEX 


Pitman,    Isaac,    third    lecturing 
tour,  66 

production  of  No.  1  of  Phono- 
graphic Journal,  66 

first  visit  to  Glasgow,  69 

testimonial   from   Professors 
Thomson  and  Ramsay,  70 

lessons  to  Lord  Kelvin  and  Prof. 
James  Thomson,  70 

"  Pocket  Edition  "  and  "  Man- 
ual of  Phonography,"  71 

discontinues  private  school,  73 

"  The  Reporter's  Book,"   73 

the  "  Phonographic  Institu- 
tion," 73 

visited  by  Thomas  Allen  Reed,  74 

establishes  the  Phonographic 
Corresponding  Society,    75 

attends  phonographic  festival 
at  Nottingham,  77 

attends  festival  at  Birmingham, 
78 

speech  on  origin  of  Phono- 
graphy at  Birmingham,  79 

phonotypic  printing,  inception 
of,  82 

establishment  of  Phonotypic 
Journal,   83 

correspondence  with  Alexander 
John  Ellis,  84 

phonotypic  fount,  the  first,  84 

edits  Phonographic  Correspon- 
dent, 85 

sets  up  first  page  of  phonotypy, 
85 

practical  knowledge  of  printing, 
85 

first  annual  address  to  Phono- 
graphic Corresponding 
Society,  86 

"  Reading  and  Writing  Re- 
form "  inaugurated,  86 

supports  the  introduction  of 
Phonography  in  America,  88 

reports  Richard  Cobden  at 
Bath,  88 

Bath  Journal  publishes  speech 
from  his  phonographic  notes, 
89 

oil  portrait  by  J.  B.  (afterwards 
Colonel)    Keene,   89 

starts  the  first  evercirculator,  94 

at  Ipswich  phonographic  soiree, 
95 


Pitman,  Isaac,  his  first  printing 

press,  96 
description  of  his  first  printing 

office,  96 
opens  London  depot,  97 
president  of  Phonetic  Council,  98 
agreement  with  A.   J.  Ellis  on 

phonotypic  alphabet,  99 
retires  from  control  of  Phono- 
typic Journal,   100 
relinquishes  printing  plant  and 

staff  to  A.  J.  Ellis,  100 
his  part  in  the  phonetic  move- 
ment described  by  A.  J.  Ellis, 

101 
writes  "  History  of  Shorthand," 

102,  263 
produces    "  Phonographic   Dic- 
tionary," 103 
A  then  (sum  article  on  his  work, 

103 
resumes     publication     of     the 

Phonotypic  Journal,   106 
announces    the    discontinuance 

of  the  Phonetic  News,  106 
re-names     the      Corresponding 

Society  the  Phonetic  Society, 

107 
his  tribute  to  A.  J.  Ellis,  107 
discontinues    use    of    "  1847  " 

alphabet,    109 
appeal     to     A.     J.     Ellis     for 

phonotypic  unity,  110 
prints  the  Bible  phonetically,  110 
contradicts  erroneous  announce- 
ment about  the  Institute,  111 
occupies    the   second    Phonetic 

Institute    in     Albion    Place, 

Bath,  111 
exhibits       Phonography      and 

phonotypy  at  the  Great  Exhi  - 

bition  of  1851  and  is  awarded 

bronze  medal,  112 
addresses  soiree  at  Exeter  Hall, 

113 
attends  anniversary  of  Preston 

phonetic  school, '114 
and    the    work    of   the    British 

Phonetic  Council,  '116 
names     Gallery     phonographic 

reporters  known  to  him  in  the 

early  fifties,   118 
makes  the  Phonetic  Journal  a 

weekly  periodical.   119 


INDEX 


387 


Pitman,  Isaac,  produces  enlarged 
"  Shorthand  Dictionary,"  119 

his  estimate  of  his  own  litho- 
graphic phonographic  trans- 
fer work,  119 

correspondence  with  A.  J.  Ellis 
on  Presidency  of  Phonetic 
Society,   120 

removes  his  private  residence  to 
2  Lansdown  Terrace,  Bath,  122 

third  Phonetic  Institute  Par- 
sonage Lane,  Bath,  122 

the  propagation  of  his  religious 
views  discussed,  124 

circulation  of  his  text -books  in 
1855,   126 

vowel  scale  experiments  in  co- 
operation with  C.  B.  Cayley, 
127 

introduction  of  new  vowel  scale 
and  publication  of  Tenth 
Edition,  128 

his  reasons  for  the  change,  129 

replies  to  T.  A.  Reed's  ob- 
jections, 130 

publishes  the  Eleventh  Edition 
of  Phonography,   133 

abolishes  "  Editions  "  after  the 
Twelfth.  133 

address  at  Manchester,  (1857), 
135 

death  of  his  first  wife,   135 

Reckoning  Reform,  136 

receives  support  of  Sir  Walter 
Trevelyan,  for  spelling  reform 
propaganda,   138 

loans  from  Sir  Walter  Trevel- 
yan,  139 

first  letter  from  Prof.  Max- 
Miiller,  140 

Max-Muller's  opinion  of  his 
work  as  spelling  reformer,  140 

produces  works  in  Mikmak 
language,   142 

his  second  marriage,  143 

quarter  of  a  century  of  Phono- 
graphy,   144 

promotes  the  employment  of 
shorthand  clerks,    146 

testimonial  to,  146 

letter  of  Rev.  C.  H.  E.  Wyche 
to,   147 

proposes  the  building  of  a 
Phonetic  Institute,  148 


Pitman,  Isaac,  presentation  of 
testimonial,   (1862)  149 

acknowledgment  of  presenta- 
tion, the  "  usufruct  "  speech, 
150 

gives  Mr.  Besley's  opinion  on 
the  first  phonetic  type,   151 

description  of  his  work  in 
Parsonage  Lane  bv  T.  A. 
Reed,  153 

character  sketch  bv  William 
White,  155 

takes  services  at  the  New 
Church,  Bath,  159 

prepares  paper  on  "  Brief 
Writing  "  for  British  Associa- 
tion meeting  at  Bath,  1864, 160 

on  Sir  William  Armstrong's 
advocacy  of  longhand  abbre- 
viations, 161 

on  illegible  writing,  163 

carriage  accident  to,    164 

interest  in  the  Shakspere  Ter- 
centenary Celebrations,   164 

temporary  estrangement  from 
T.  A.  Reed,   166 

on  the  inadvisability  of  a 
reporter  changing  his  method 
of  writing,  167 

produces  Third  Edition  of 
"  Phonographic  Dictionary," 
168 

produces  "  Reporter's  Assist- 
ant,"  169 

works  executed  in  lithographic 
shorthand,   170 

transfer  writing,  an  anecdote 
connected  with,   171 

adopts  a  shorter  working  dav, 
171 

begins  practice  of  annual  holi- 
days with  a  visit  to  the  Isle 
of  Wight,   172 

production  of  the  "  Dairyman's 
Daughter  "  in  shorthand,  173 

and  A.  M.  Bell's  "  Visible 
Speech,"  174 

witness  at  the  Edinburgh 
Justiciary  Court,  175 

appeal  on  behalf  of  the  relatives 
of  a  convicted  man,   178 

on  Graham's  "  system,"  178 

address  at  Manchester  Town 
Hall,   178 


388 


INDEX 


Pitman,  Isaac,  his  friendship  with 
Francis  Foster  Barham,  179 

publishes  a  "  Memorial  of 
Francis  Barham,"  180 

lithographs  the  Bible  in  short- 
hand, 181 

last  work  in  lithographed 
shorthand,  182,  195 

crusade  against  the  paid  postal 
teaching  of  Phonography, 
182,  188 

prints  Phonography  from 
movable  type  and  engraved 
characters,  184 

brings  out  new  series  of  Phonetic 
Journal  containing  engraved 
Phonography.  187 

a  singular  rumour  about,  187 

and  "  Ball's  Standard  Phono- 
graphy," 188 

"  Proposal  for  the  Building  of  a 
Phonetic  Institute  at  Bath," 
191 

his  personal  history  in  connec- 
tion with  Phonography,    192 

and  the  Income-tax  Commis- 
sioners,  193 

Phonetic  Institute  Fund  sub- 
scription list,   194 

accident  at  Turkish  bath,   195 

purchase  of  building  for 
Phonetic  Institute  in  Bath 
Abbey  Churchyard,    196 

occupation  of  fourth  Phonetic 
Institute,    197 

trouble^  with  neighbours  about 
printing  machinery,   198 

Phonetic  Society  reorganiza- 
tion,  199 

fourth  edition  of  "  Shorthand 
Dictionary  "  from  metal 
characters,  202 

co-operates  in  the  adaptation  of 
Phonography  to  the  Welsh 
language,  203 

is  interested  in  "  Spelling  Bees," 
203 

addresses  a  meeting  at  Man- 
chester (1876),  203 

observations  on  Max-Miiller's 
article  on  spelling  reform  in 
the  Fortnightly  Review,  205 

address  at  Spelling  Reform 
Conference,  214 


Pitman,  Isaac,  attends  a  deputa  - 

tion  to  the  Government   on 

spelling   reform,  216 
takes   part   in  the  proceedings 

of      the      Spelling      Reform 

Association,  217 
is  noticed  by  Punch,  218;  replv 

to,  219 
introduces      changes      in      the 

Phonetic  Society,  220 
visits  Max-Miiller  at  Oxford,  220 
sends  phonotypic  literature  to 

the     Caxton     Exhibition    at 

South  Kensington,  220 
is  visited  by  Prof.  J.  D.  Everitt, 

220 
builds  Hazel  wood,  221 
publishes  twenty-seven  schemes 

of  orthographic  reform,  222 
replies  to  the  Spectator's  charge 

of  "  flat  burglary,"  225 
first  stage  of  the  spelling  reform 

introduced,  225 
gives  up  full  phonotypy,  228 
address  at  Bristol  (1880),  231 
on    the   publication   of   phono- 
graphic      and       phonotypic 

books,  231 
publishes  French  adaptation  of 

Phonography,  232 
assists  in  adaptation  of  Phono- 
graphy to  Italian,  232 
address      to      the      Shorthand 

Society   (1884),   232 
is  awarded  the  silver  medal  at 

the     Health     Exhibition     of 

1884,  234 
visit  to  Edinburgh  and  address 

(1884),  234 
gold     medal     awarded     to     at 

Edinburgh  International  Ex- 
hibition, 237 
witness  in  the  copyright  action 

of  Pitman  v.  Hine,  237 
lecture   at  Exeter  Hall   (1885), 

241 
issues  speed  certificates  (1885), 

242 
his  sons  become  partners  in  the 

phonetic  business,   243 
opens    the    London    house    of 

Isaac  Pitman  &  Sons,  244 
central  figure  in  the  Jubilee  of 

Phonography,  245 


INDEX 


389 


Pitman,  Isaac,  his  letter  to 
T.  A.  Reed  on  Jubilee  celebra- 
tion,  247 

Lord  Rosebery's  reference  to 
at  the  opening  of  the  Inter- 
national Shorthand  Congress, 
251 

designated  the  "  Father  of 
Phonography,"  251 

received  by  Lord  Rosebery  at 
the  Hotel  Metropole,  251 

lends  books  to  the  Congress 
Exhibition,  253 

his  system  described  by  Dr.  J.  H. 
Gladstone,  253 

his  speeches,  etc.,  at  the  pho- 
nographic celebration  and 
presentation  of  bust  and 
addresses,  36,  254,  257 

his  painstaking  care  as  a  steno- 
graphic author  described,  256 

responds  to  the  toast  of  "  Short- 
hand Authors  "  at  the  Con- 
gress dinner,  261 

love  of  shorthand  solely  for  its 
use,  262  ;  explains  this 
statement,  262 

attends  luncheon  at  the  Man- 
sion House,  263 

Sir  Reginald  Hanson  on  Isaac 
Pitman's  invention,   264 

publishes  the  "  Transactions  of 
the  Congress  "  and  the  "Bib- 
liography of  Shorthand , ' ' 
265 

address  at  Manchester  (1887), 
266 

presentation  at  the  New  Church, 
Bath,  267 

American  gold  medal  and 
address,  268 

Canadian  honour  to,  270 

celebration  and  presentation  by 
the  citizens  of  Bath,  270 

his  speech  of  acknowledgment, 
272 

dinner  at  Holborn  Restaurant 
and  presentation  of  gold 
medal,  273 

his  speech  in  reply,  276 

builds  and  occupies  fifth 
Phonetic  Institute,  276 

reads  paper  before  British  Asso- 
ciation at  Bath  in  1888,  277 


Pitman,   Isaac,  address   at    Mid- 
land  Institute,  Birmingham, 

277 
severs  his  connection  with  the 

Shorthand  Society,   278 
his    ideal    of    the    mission    of 

Phonography  fulfilled,  280 
takes  part  in  the  establishment 

of  the  National  Phonographic 

Society,  281 
becomes  first  President  of  the 

Society,  282 
a  member  of  the   Institute  of 

Journalists,  282 
visits  Munich  and  pays  a  tribute 

to  F.  Z.  Gabelsberger,  283 
celebrates    the    Jubilee    of   the 

Phonetic  Journal,  283 
visits    Glasgow  and    speaks  on 

shorthand  (1891),  284 
addresses  a  gathering  at  Bristol 

(1891),  284 
sends  a  message  to  the  National 

Phonographic  Society  by  the 

phonograph,  284 
celebration    of    80th    birthday, 

285 
describes  his  habits  of  life,  285 
presentation  from  the  Scottish 

Phonographic  Association, 286 
writes  introductory  "  Greeting  " 

in         Pitman's         Shorthand 

Weekly,  286 
summer  holiday  in  the  Channel 

Islands,  288 
promotes      the      Phonographic 

Jubilee  of  T.   A.   Reed,   and 

makes  presentation,  288 
gives  lecture  on   Phonography 

at  Trowbridge  Town  Hall,  289 
illness   from   congestion   of  the 

lungs,  289 
removes  his  desk  from  the  Insti- 
tute to  his  private  residence, 

289,  292 
discontinuance      of       Phonetic 

Society,  290 
establishment  of  Speling  Leeg, 

290 
address  on  the  objects  of  the 

Leeg  at  Portsmouth,  290 
distributes    prizes    to    the    stu- 
dents   of    the    Metropolitan 

School  of  Shorthand,  290 


390 


INDEX 


Pitman,  Isaac,  fatal  malady 
manifests   itself,    293 

descriptive  interview  with  in 
You  and  I,  293 

letter  from  Lord  Rosebery 
offering  the  honour  of  knight- 
hood, 296  ;    his  reply,  296 

notification  in  the  London 
Gazette,  297 

knighthood  approved  by  the 
Press,  297 

messages  and  addresses  of 
congratulation,  297,  298 

address  of  congratulation  from 
members  of  Parliament,  298 

accolade  of  knighthood  bestowed 
by  Queen  Victoria,  298 

retirement  from  the  firm  of 
Isaac  Pitman  &  Sons,  299 

becomes  Patron  of  the  National 
Society  of  Shorthand 
Teachers,  299 

interest  in  Revised  Version  of 
the  Bible,  300 

student  of  the  works  of  Sweden- 
borg,  301 

his  political  opinions,  301 

supporter  and  officer  of  temper- 
ance societies,  302 

interest  in  the  Peace  Society 
and  other  bodies,  302 

joins  in  the  Bath  Free  Library 
movement,  302 

distributes  books  to  free  libra- 
ries, 303 

presentation  to  library  of 
Hawarden  Institute,  304 

takes  part  in  the  Moore  memo- 
rial celebration  at  Bromham, 
304 

his  interest  and  attainments  in 
vocal  and  instrumental 
music,  305 

hymn  tune  composed  by,  306 

anthem  arranged  by,  307 

prepares  a  table  of  vibrations  of 
musical  notes,  308 

his  vegetarian  dietary,   310 

Latin  epigram  on  his  simple 
diet,  311 

letter  to  The  Times  on  his 
dietetic  experience,  218,   311 

contribution  to  "  Study  and 
Stimulants,"  312 


PiTiMAN,     Isaac,    his   dislike    of 

tobacco,  313 
his  attitude  towards  the  auto- 
graph hunter,  313 
phrenological    examination    of, 

313 
artistic  perceptions  of,  315 
deceived  by  a  supposed  Polish 

exile,  315 
visited  by  an  American  name- 
sake, 316 
interviewed  by  Mrs.  Tooley  in 

The   Young  Man,  318 
corresponds  with  and  is  visited 

by  Archbishop  Walsh,  320 
opens  the  Institute  of  Spelling 

Reform,  320 
last  visit  of  T.  A.  Reed  to,  321 
proposes    changes    in     Phono- 
graphy, 322 
publishes  the  Spelev,  323 
his   last   public   appearance   in 

advocacy  of  spelling  reform, 

323 
failing  health  of,  324 
his  serenity  of  mind,  324 
presentation    of    books   to   the 

Bath  Reference  Library,  325 
death  of,   15,  326 
funeral  services  of,  327 
cremation  of,  328 
Bath  civic  memorial  tablet  to, 

328 
memorial  portrait  accepted  by 

the  National  Portrait  Gallery, 

329 
tribute  of  the   Cologne   Gazette, 

330 
estimate  of  the  Rev.  E.  Everitt 

Hale,  330 
the  universality  of  his  system 

of  Phonography,  330 
"  In     Memoriam "     from     the 

Literary  World,    332 

Pitman  (Jacob),  4,  6,  8,  14,  15, 
24  ;  takes  "  Stenographic  Sound - 
Hand  "  to  Australia,  42  ;  308 

Pitman   (Jane),  14,   15 

Pitman  (Joseph),  14,  15  ;  first 
acquaintance  with  "  Steno- 
graphic Sound-Hand,"  42  ; 
as  lecturer,  71  ;  at  Rochdale, 
81  ;   at  Brighton,  93;  116,  117 


INDEX 


391 


Pitman  (Maria),  marriage  to 
Samuel  Pitman,  1  ;  influence 
on  her  family,  2  ;   death,  14 

Pitman  (Mary),  14,  15 

Pitman  (Melissa),   15 

Pitman  (Rosella),  14,  15,  255 

Pitman  (Samuel),  birth,  14  ; 
marriage  of,  1 ;  second  mar- 
riage, 14  ;  settlement  at  Trow- 
bridge, 1  ;  overseer  to  Mr. 
James  Edgell,  1  ;  study  of 
astronomy  and  astrology,  2  ; 
horoscope  of  son  Isaac,  3  ;  a 
diligent  reader,  4  ;  Sunday 
School  superintendent,  4  ;  pro- 
motes British  School  and  infant 
school  at  Trowbridge,  5  ;  pro- 
motes temperance  and  free 
libraries,  5  ;  arranges  home 
evening  school  for  his  family,  9  ; 
purchases  books  from  Tegg, 
Cheapside,  11  ;  begins  business 
as  a  cloth  manufacturer,  13  ; 
decides  to  make  Isaac  a  British 
school  teacher,  13  ;  selects  the 
same  profession  for  five  other 
sons  and  daughters,  14  ;  resi- 
dence at  Kingston  House,  Brad- 
ford-on-Avon,  25  ;  learns 
"  Stenographic  Sound -Hand," 
43  ;  assists  at  London  depot, 
98;   death,  14 

Pitman's  Shorthand  Weekly,  286 

Pocknell  E.,  253 

Press  on  Phonography  and  the 
Spelling  Reform  :  Athenceum, 
103  ;  Bath  and  Cheltenham 
Gazette,  65  ;  Berrow's  Worcester 
Journal,  72  ;  Birmingham  Daily 
Mail,  211  ;  Bradshaw's  Journal, 
76 ;  Cologne  Gazette,  330  ; 
English  Review,  186  ;  Fort- 
nightly Review,  205  ;  Keene's 
Bath  Journal,  89  ;  Manchester 
Guardian,  82,  145  ;  Manchester 
Times,  56  ;  Morning  Chronicle, 
113  ;  Nottingham  Mercury,  11  ; 
Punch,  105,  218  ;  Suffolk 
Chronicle,         82  ;  Weldon's 

Register,  155  ;  Westminster 
Review,    105 

Quirk  Dr.  (Bishop  of* Sheffield), 
328 


Rand  Rev.  S.  T.(  143 

Reade  A.  A.,  312 

Reckoning  Reform,    136 

Reed  Sir  Charles,  215,  216 

Reed  T.  A.,  and  Penny  Plate,  51  ; 
first  visit  to  Isaac  Pitman,  74  ; 
suggests  Corresponding  Society, 
75  ;  at  Rochdale,  81  ;  replies 
to  Morning  Chronicle,  113; 
description  of  and  retirement 
from  lecturing  work,  117  ; 
assists  with  "  Shorthand  Dic- 
tionary," 119  ;  opposes  change 
in  vowel  scale,  130  ;  adopts  it, 
131  ;  declines  to  adopt  Elev- 
enth Edition,  133  ;  describes 
Isaac  Pitman's  work,  153  ; 
temporary  estrangement  from, 
166  ;  adapts  Phonography  to 
French  language,  232  ;  witness 
in  copyright  action,  239  ;  takes 
initial  steps  for  celebrating  the 
Jubilee  of  Phonography,  246, 
249  ;  makes  presentation  of 
Pitman  bust,  255 ;  at  the 
foundation  of  National  Phono- 
graphic Society,  282  ;  at  Glas- 
gow, 284  ;  Phonographic  Jubi- 
lee of,  288  ;  last  visit  to  Isaac 
Pitman,   321 

"  Reporter's  Assistant,"   168 

Richter  H.,  253 

Rodgers  John,  213 

Russell  Sir  C.  260 

Sayce  Rev.  A.  H.,  213 

Scottish  Phonographic  Associa- 
tion, 235,  286 

Shorthand,  History  of,  102,  263  ; 
clerk,  introduction  of  the,  145  ; 
Society  of  Arts  first  examina- 
tion in,  164  ;  "  Dictionary," 
202  ;  science  of,  232  ;  as  a 
specific  under  Education  Code, 
279  ;  included  under  Technical 
Instruction  Act,  279 

Shorthand  Society,  246,  278 

Shum  F.,  271 

Society  of  Arts  first  examination 
in  shorthand,  164 

Spelling  Bees,  203 

Spelling  reform,  prize  essay  on, 
139  ;  works  of  American  re- 
formers,     143  ;       three      great 


392 


INDEX 


obstacles  to,  210 ;  proposed 
Royal  Commission  on,  211  ; 
London  School  Board  and,  212  ; 
Conference  in  1877,  213;  Lowe 
(Robert)  on,  213;  Temple 
(Bishop)  on,  214  ;  at  Social 
Science  Association,  1877,  215  ; 
career  of  Spelling  Reform  Asso- 
ciation described,  217  ;  First 
Stage  of,  225  ;  Five  Rules  of, 
226  ;  Three  Rules  of,  227  ;  full 
phonotypy  falls  into  disuse, 
228;  Gladstone  (W.  E.)  and, 
229,  230 

Spencer  Herbert,  and  reckoning 
reform,  136 

Stenographic  Sound-Hand,  arbi- 
traries  in,  39  ;  phrasing  in,  40  ; 
printing  and  publishing  of,  41 ; 
reprint  of,  333 

Storr  W.,  215,  216 

Sully  C,  75 

Swedenborg  Emanuel,  25,  26,  27 

Tacchi  A.,  276 

Taylor  Bianchi,  305 

Taylor  Bishop,  379 

Taylor's  shorthand  learned  by 
Isaac  Pitman,  13,  31,  32 

Tercentenary  of  Shorthand,  246 

Trevelyan  Sir  Walter,  supports 
spelling  reform,  138  ;  loans  to 
Isaac  Pitman,  139  ;  President 
of  Phonetic  Society,  1 39  ;  offers 
prizes  for  essays  on  spelling 
reform,  139  ;    death  of,  220 


Trowbridge,   St.    James's    church 

at,  4  ;    Zion  chapel,  4 
Typesetting  from  reporter's  notes, 

89 
Tyte  W.,  271 

Underhill  E.  F.,  270 
United  Kingdom  Alliance,  302 

Valpy  F.  H.,  253 

Vowel  scales  old  and  new,  128 

Walford  Cornelius,  232 

Walker  T.,  75 

Walker's  Dictionary,  34 

Wralsh  Archbishop,  320 

Ward  W.  G.,  75 

Watkin  Sir  E.,  266 

Weber  Dr.,  260 

Webster  W.,  124 

Webster  Mrs.,  15,  255 

Welsh  Phonography,  203 

Wesley      John,      Isaac      Pitman 

compared  to,   157 
Westby-Gibson  Dr.  J.,  246,  265 
White    W.,    character    sketch    of 

Isaac  Pitman,   155 
Whitwell  M.,  231 
Wilcox  W.  J.,  276 
Withers  G.,  74,  118 
Woodiwiss  G.,  327 
Woodward  F.  E.,  74 
Wright  T.  R.,  261 
Wyche  Rev.  C.  H.  E.,   124,   147 


THE    END 


Press  of  Isaac  Pitman  &  Sons,  Bath,  England. 
J— {2284) 


SIR  ISAAC 
PITMAN 


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BRIGHAM  YOUNG  UNIVERSITY 


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